State Farms received 80K claims from Hurricane Helene

State Farm reported receiving more than 81,450 auto and homeowner claims from 14 states affected by the Category 4 storm that first struck Florida’s Gulf Coast on Sept. 26. Most of the claims have come from Georgia, South Carolina, Florida and North Carolina.

“First and foremost, our hearts and thoughts are with the many people whose lives and property have been affected by Helene,” State Farm said in a statement. “Our greatest concern is for the safety of everyone in the impacted areas, and we urge residents to make safety their top priority.”

Members of State Farm’s Catastrophe Team are on the ground to help residents take their first steps to recovery. Local State Farm agents are joined by thousands of employees in centralized care centers across the country who are helping to file claims virtually.

Jesse Kohlbecker, vice president of claims and client services at Country Financial, said as of Friday the company received about 3,700 claims. However, this number is expected to increase once power and cell phone service is fully restored.

Over the past week, claims adjusters have been dispatched to the region to assist clients. Kohlbecker said the company is taking an all hands on deck approach to the disaster by leveraging resources from 19 different states.

As agents work to process claims on site, smaller claims will be handled virtually.

“What this will allow us to do is allow our folks who are on the ground there to handle large losses and the small losses are handled through virtual technology,” Kohlbecker said.

Mark Friedlander, spokesman for the Insurance Information Institute, an industry group, said Helene is a “very manageable loss event,” and estimates insurer losses will range from about $5 billion to $8 billion. That’s compared to the insured losses from the Category 4 Hurricane Ian in September 2022 that was estimated in excess of $50 billion.

However, industry professionals and experts have long warned that home insurance typically does not cover flood damage to the home. Friedlander and other experts point out that less than 1% of the inland areas that sustained the most catastrophic flood damage were protected with flood insurance.

“This is very common in inland communities across the country,” Friedlander said. “ Lack of flood insurance is a major insurance gap in the U.S., as only about 6% of homeowners carry the coverage, mostly in coastal counties.”

Country Financial also will be relying on electronic fund transfers to process payouts since many clients have no way of receiving mail.

In response to the disaster, State Farm is donating $1.25 million in grant funding to assist the American Red Cross, Convoy of Hope, Midwest Food Bank and Feeding the Carolinas in their Helene relief efforts.

Country Financial is also donating $20,000 to the American Red Cross to support affected individuals in states where it does business, including Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama. It will also match any employee donations during the month of October to the Red Cross, Salvation Army and Team Rubicon.

As of Friday morning, at least 215 fatalities have been confirmed, which makes Helene the deadliest landfalling U.S. hurricane since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

The Associated Press contributed.