State Farm provides insights on navigating severe weather claims

AccuWeather

State Farm's spokesperson, Shane Allen, discusses the surge in claims following recent severe weather events and provides practical tips on filing a claim if you've been affected by storms.

Transcript

00:00 Well, from Texas to the Midwest, we've seen a trail of damage left by severe weather.

00:06 Whether large or small, you want to make sure you submit your claims to your insurance company.

00:12 Shane Allen, spokesperson from State Farm, joins us to discuss their response and what

00:18 you need to know when severe weather strikes your area.

00:22 And before anybody asks, yes, he does know Jake from State Farm.

00:25 Of course, that was my first question.

00:27 I do want to follow up with some more questions here.

00:30 It's just been round after round of damaging severe storms.

00:33 So how many states have your agents deployed to just since last week?

00:37 Yeah, well, first of all, our hearts go out to anyone who was impacted by those storms

00:41 over the weekend.

00:42 And then you look at what's happening in North Texas, that one-two punch.

00:45 So hopefully those who had damage were able to make those temporary repairs, maybe with

00:49 tarps on their roof to prevent future damage from these storms that are going on.

00:53 That's really important.

00:55 State Farm has a coordinated catastrophe response in Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Oklahoma,

01:01 Illinois, and of course, Texas, also Tennessee.

01:04 And we've got on-site remote customer care centers in Claremore, Oklahoma, and in Rogers,

01:10 Arkansas, where I am right now.

01:12 We have over 19,000 State Farm agents across the country that live and work in a city near

01:17 you.

01:18 So we're always there.

01:19 But customers can always start filing that claim with the State Farm app.

01:23 We've also got thousands of claims representatives ready to take calls at 1-800-SF-CLAIM.

01:30 And what type of claims are you seeing and how many have your agents help process for

01:35 customers?

01:36 That's a really good question.

01:37 You know, most of the claims that we're seeing are for wind and hail, as you can imagine

01:42 from the reports that you've been doing all over the weekend and this morning.

01:46 As of this morning, Tuesday morning, we've received approximately 3,500 home and auto

01:52 claims in Arkansas, 3,000 in Missouri, 1,100 in Kentucky, 630 in Oklahoma, 500 in Illinois,

02:03 500 in Texas, and about 400 in Tennessee.

02:06 Yeah, helpful numbers there to know just what you guys have been dealing with.

02:09 However, our viewers at home that may be in the path of severe weather, whether that's

02:12 today or as we head throughout the rest of the season, what advice do you have for them

02:16 to make sure they stay covered?

02:18 You know, it's been a really busy severe weather season.

02:21 And hurricane season doesn't even officially start until this Saturday.

02:25 I would recommend that folks start to do a home inventory.

02:32 What may seem like a little bit of work on the front end will really help you out if

02:35 you unfortunately find yourself in a situation where you need to replace things that have

02:39 been lost in a storm.

02:40 You can even, you know, take your cell phone and walk around your house and start recording

02:45 things in your rooms and drawers and closets.

02:47 That can really help speed up the claims process should the worst happen.

02:52 And of course, we're already getting reports of damage across North Texas, including the

02:56 Dallas area.

02:57 What tips can you give our viewers watching this morning?

03:01 Stay safe, stay weather aware, listen to the local authorities, the local meteorologists.

03:08 They know what's going on.

03:10 And then as soon as it's safe, call your agent, start taking photos of damage, and let's get

03:15 that claims process started as soon as possible.

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