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Rocky Mountain Insurance Information
NEWS
6565 South Dayton St. #2400, Greenwood Village, Colorado 80111
Serving Colorado, New Mexico, Utah & Wyoming
Contact: Carole Walker, Executive Director
(303) 790-0216 or 1-800-355-9524
Release Date: Immediately
Topic: Catastrophes
TWO DAYS OF SEVERE COLORADO WEATHER LEAVE BEHIND A TRAIL OF DESTRUCTION -The Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association offers consumers advice on filing claims & avoiding disaster fraud.
June 10, 2004 - Mother Nature wreaked havoc on the Front Range this week-battering cars and homes with golf ball and baseball-sized hail. Heavy rain and hail flooded streets and basements from Golden to Lakewood, to Metro and Southwest Denver. And the worst of it came last night, when a tornado ripped through the town of Sterling. Insurance adjusters will be out assessing the damage today. Several companies have already activated national catastrophe teams and are setting up emergency claims centers to help speed up the process. Claims calls continue to come in as residents observe property and vehicle damage, so preliminary insurance industry cost estimates will be released when companies are able to assess the extent of the insured losses from these storms.
"After several years of escaping with lighter hail seasons, this is a wake-up call that severe weather and hail season are in full swing in Colorado," says Carole Walker, Executive Director of the Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association. "We generally get 3-5 damaging hail storms during the peak months of June and July and they often are accompanied by flash flooding, high winds and tornadoes." In fact, while they don't always touch down or hit heavily populated areas, during the past five years Colorado has averaged between 35-40 tornadoes each year.
The Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association has this advice for affected homeowners filing claims for damage. Keep in mind that hail and flood damage is covered under your auto policy, if you have comprehensive coverage. However, flooding is excluded under a standard homeowners policy. You need to have purchased separate flood insurance that is available through the federal government. Damage from hail, wind and tornadoes are covered under a standard homeowners policy.
- Be prepared to give your agent or insurance representative a description of any damage. Your agent will report the loss immediately to your insurance company or a qualified adjuster.
- Take photos of the damaged areas. These will help with your claims process and will assist the adjuster in the investigation.
- Prepare a detailed inventory of all damaged or destroyed personal property. Be sure to make two copies—one for yourself and one for the adjuster. Your list should be as complete as possible, including a description of the items, dates of purchase or approximate age, cost at time of purchase and estimated replacement cost
- Make whatever temporary repairs you can. Cover broken windows, damaged roofs and walls to prevent further destruction. Save receipts for supplies and materials you purchase. Your company will reimburse you for reasonable expenses in making temporary repairs.
- Secure a detailed estimate for permanent repairs to your home from a reliable contractor and give it to the adjuster. The estimate should contain the proposed repairs, repair costs and replacement prices.
Serious losses will be given priority. If your home has been destroyed or seriously damaged, your agent will do everything possible to assure that you are given priority.
The Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association also recommends that you use the following checklist before hiring a contractor:
- Get more than one estimate. Don't be pushed into signing a contract right away.
- Get everything in writing. Cost, work to be done, time schedule, guarantees, payment schedule and other expectations should be detailed.
- Demand references and check them out.
- Ask to see the salesperson's driver's license and write down the license number and license plate number.
- Never sign a contract with blanks; unacceptable terms can be added later.
- Never pay a contractor in full or sign a completion certificate until the work is finished.
- Insurance coverage may be rendered void if intentional misrepresentation by a policyholder is discovered.
- If you believe you have been approached by an unlicensed contractor or adjuster, or have been encouraged to fabricate an insurance claim, contact your insurance company or call the National Insurance Crime Bureau Hotline at 1-800-TEL-NICB (1-800-835-6422).
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Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association is a non-profit consumer information organization. Affiliated with the Insurance Information Institute, RMIIA has been serving consumers and the media since 1952.
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