What to Expect from Your Claims Process
When the Severe Weather Text Alert sounded, Texas Farm Bureau Insurance policyholder Krista Todd and her 15-year-old daughter, Kristian, took cover — just minutes before straight-line winds, rain, and hail pummeled their Stephenville home in April 2015.
“They hunkered down in a closet. They’re pretty jumpy around storms anyway, so they had already taken shelter,” says Krista’s husband, Matt. “They didn’t know whether it was a tornado.”
Working 30 minutes away at a car dealership in Comanche, where it wasn’t even raining, he was surprised by a barrage of text messages from his wife referencing hail damage and downed trees.
Glad his family was safe, Matt Todd expected to see a few big branches in the yard — not two big Bradford pear trees lying against his front porch. He also found missing shingles and the chimney cap in the yard.
“There was quite a bit of damage,” Todd says. “I was worried about the trees being against the house. That was my major concern.”
Even though it was Friday night, Todd texted Ricky Thurman, his Texas Farm Bureau Insurance Agent. “He called me right back,” Todd says. “I texted pictures to him while we were talking. Ricky took good care of us.”
Thurman says he always makes himself available to members, sharing his personal cell phone number. “When things happen, they don’t happen between 8 and 5, Monday through Friday,” says Thurman, who initiates the claims process when members call him.
Assessing the damage
Hearing of countywide storm damage, Todd knew it might take a few days for an adjuster to come. He asked Thurman if he could go ahead and have a contractor remove the trees.
Thurman says that question comes up a lot from homeowners dealing with damage, and he was glad to take the weekend call so he could advise Todd to get cleanup started. “It mitigates further damage,” Thurman explains.
As it turns out, Todd had to dial Thurman’s number the very next weekend, when a Sunday night storm caused more damage and rain poured through the roof. Again, Thurman answered the call. “This was really unusual,” Thurman says. “At least three storms came through — two back-to-back and then there was another.” That meant lots of damage — and lots of claims underway.
Taking care of business
After the first hailstorm, Texas Farm Bureau Insurance dispatched its catastrophe team of adjusters to the area. “The two adjusters in our office weren’t going to be enough,” says Thurman.
TFBI appraisers from all across Texas operated a “hail clinic” for damaged vehicles, estimating damage and writing checks on the spot. Dozens of property adjusters worked homeowners claims.
Between April 24 and May 24, policyholders led almost 2,500 auto and homeowners claims in Erath County, according to Aaron Wilkerson, a regional director of claims services for Texas Farm Bureau Insurance. That led to the deployment of 90 adjusters, who worked a combined 404 days (including weekends) to process the claims efficiently.
For Todd’s first claim, the process went quickly. The adjuster arrived in a few days, discovering damage to the roof and siding.
“He found things I didn’t even see,” Todd says. “We sat down at the kitchen table and he walked me through the estimate.”
After the second storm compounded the initial damage, the claims process started again.
The Todds used the insurance money to repair damage and hire a painter. They chipped in some of their own funds to have the whole house repainted — providing a long-awaited makeover. “It was surprising how fast the whole process went,” Todd says.
Homeowners throughout the state echo that praise for the Texas Farm Bureau Insurance claims process, which helps provide calm after the storm.