Insurance adjusters’ business is booming with hail damage
May 6, 2012 | Posted by in Insurance | 0 Comments
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By Tim O’Neil, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
May 5–HAZELWOOD — Rob and Jenny Morris will repair their burly pickup. The decision wasn’t so clear for Bob and June Terry and their two older sedans.
The Morrises of St. Charles and the Terrys of Charlack were among the first to bring badly dimpled vehicles to a State Farm Insurance temporary claim center. After widespread havoc such as the April 28 deluge of hail, insurance companies often set up special shops for policyholders to bring their troubles.
State Farm estimators examined the cracked windshield and deep dents on a 2005 Ram pickup and proposed paying in full for the repairs. That pleased the Morrises. But estimators declared the Terrys’ 2001 Impala and 2003 Nissan sedan “totaled,” meaning the cost of repairs would exceed the market values of the vehicles.
The Terrys had to decide whether give up their cars or take smaller settlements to repair them. And Bob Terry, coach of a youth baseball team, had a game that afternoon.
“We need the car now,” he said, thinking of first pitch. “We’ll figure things out later.”
So it went Thursday as vehicles rolled into the shop at Interstate 270 and North Lindbergh Boulevard. State Farm has four others on both sides of the Mississippi River. American Family Insurance Co. has established six of them in the metro area.
Policyholders make appointments. Jim Camoriano, State Farm spokesman, estimated its shops will examine at least 700 vehicles daily beginning Monday and stay open for two weeks, maybe more.
Both companies’ shops are in the April 28 hail belt, which ran from Lincoln County, Mo., into Washington County, Ill. State Farm already has more than 23,600 vehicle claims in the two states, most of them in the St. Louis area. American Family reported 5,800 bang-up vehicles in the metro.
Combined, the two companies insure about one third of the area’s cars and trucks.
The National Weather Service had numerous reports of 1 3/4-inch hail, sometimes larger, as strong thunderstorms swept across the region Saturday. One storm blew apart a large tent at Kilroy’s Sports Bar south of Busch Stadium, fatally injuring one man and hurting 100 others.