Home, auto insurance claims flood in from tornado-damaged Murfreesboro

The Tennessean – by Bonna Johnson
April 14, 2009 | View Story

Storm victims urged to file quickly

After surveying her home demolished in Friday's tornadoes and checking on a few aches, bumps and bruises at the hospital, the very next thing Cyndi Taylor took care of was calling her insurance company.

"It was the first thing on my mind," said Taylor, 34, who lived with her husband and two daughters near the hard-hit Blackman community in Rutherford County.

Home and auto insurance claims are rolling in as storm victims begin to assess their losses. At the same time, state officials put out warnings on Monday asking property owners to beware of home-repair scams. So far, no complaints about unscrupulous contractors have been filed, according to the state Department of Commerce and Insurance.

State Farm Insurance, the largest home and auto insurer in Tennessee, said it had taken 730 claims for homes and businesses, including 80 homes that were uninhabitable, from Friday's storms. It also had 252 auto claims, including 50 vehicles no longer drivable, said Judy McConkey, State Farm spokeswoman in its Murfreesboro office.

Most claims were in Murfreesboro, although some were called in from Clarksville, Lewisburg and Chattanooga, she said.

More claims are expected as additional residents get power and phone lines go back in service, she said.

Farm Bureau Insurance of Tennessee said it had taken 427 property claims in Rutherford County. The majority of the claims were from homes damaged by wind followed by homes that were uninhabitable, were damaged by hail and were total losses, said Dan Batey, spokesman for Farm Bureau Insurance of Tennessee.

1,396 claims filed in TN

Statewide, there were 1,396 property and auto claims from Friday, although not all may be storm related, Batey said.

There were 88 auto claims in Rutherford County, he said.

"Don't wait, go ahead and file your claim," Batey said. Often, storm victims with minor damage hang back so that people with major losses can get first in line. But extra claims adjusters are in the area now to take care of cases big and small, Batey said.

Taylor wanted to get the OK from her insurer to go through her storm-ravaged home, and search for family mementos, even though an adjuster hadn't assessed the damage yet.

"We knew more storms were coming, and we wanted to salvage what we could," she said. Neighbors and friends found a jewelry box with her wedding ring, her husband's wallet, a purse, some clothes, cell phones and an iPod, she said.

Taylor still needs to meet with an adjuster about her rental insurance, but her husband's parents, who owned the home, had already received a settlement check by Monday morning.

Phil Breeden, president of a public adjuster company, advised homeowners to not necessarily accept the first settlement offered by their insurance carrier.

"Don't feel any pressure from an insurance company to settle," said Breeden, founder and president of Nashville-based FirstCall Inc. "Insurance professionals have a job to settle the claim as economical to them as possible."

Public adjusters, like those at his company, can be hired by disaster victims to seek higher reimbursements from insurers. FirstCall charges clients about 15 percent of the eventual settlement amount.

"There is a lot of hidden damage, a lot of stress on the structure that you don't see – the homeowner is not trained to find that and the people hired by insurance companies are not incentivized to do that either," Breeden said.

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