Damage drives claims, work

The hail may have melted, but the damage still remains.

The impact of an early June hail storm is still being felt by residents in Green River, as work continues on building repairs throughout the city.

A storm of that magnitude is unusual for the area, so it came as a big surprise to residents, insurance agencies and contractors alike.

Owner of Drinkle Insurance, Laurie Drinkle, has been working in insurance in Green River for 38 years and has never seen a storm cause this much damage.

“This kind of stuff doesn’t happen here,” Drinkle said. “This was the first hail claim I’ve ever made.”

During the time Drinkle has worked in Green River, she said she hasn’t seen a storm cause as much damage as occurred June 25.

The storm caused a huge boost in claims filed for damages and claims are still being filed. Drinkle said each claim is close to $10,000 to $15,000, so she is not certain, but she would not be surprised if all of the claims totaled up to around $10 million between all the insurance companies in the city.

“I don’t have a figure yet because honestly, they’re (claims) still coming in,” Drinkle said. “They’re still getting settled and still getting in.”

Drinkle said people have been making late claims after they see their friends and neighbors getting house repairs. This has also led to a little bit of an issue with false claims where people are just trying to get some money or get a new roof.

“It’s like when you’re in your yard on a Sunday morning and your neighbor is washing their car, so you get yours washed too,” Drinkle said.

Allstate Agent Casey Kuckert laughed when she said Allstate has received about a 1,000 percent increase in claims.

“We’ve seen a significant amount in claims,” Kuckert said of the claims filed due to the storm.

To deal with the boost in claims, a catastrophe team, known as CAT, comes in to take over the claim reviews. According to Drinkle, catastrophe teams travel from storm to storm across the nation and take over some of the claims reviews for the local insurance agency.

Drinkle said she will check on a claim and the computer screen will show CAT, letting her know the claim is being reviewed by the catastrophe team and is no longer under her review.

Local contractors have been receiving several calls for estimates and construction work as a result of the hail storm.

“There has been a huge influx of calls for roofing. I have several roofs scheduled to be replaced up until the weather turns cold,” Ken Yager, owner of Yager Construction, said. “I have had to start telling people I am booked for the year.”

With so much business, there is simply not enough time for contractors to work with everyone on property renovations and repairs at this moment in time.

Ken Baker, owner of Ken Baker Construction, has also received a large amount of calls, but is running out of time.

“I got quite a bit of business from it,” Baker said of the storm. “I’m going to have to turn people down. There’s just not enough time until next spring.”

Along with cold weather halting repair work, Yager noted there is also a time frame put on people by insurance agencies to get repairs done.

“Insurance companies give you a time frame to get your roof repaired. These time frames are generally up to a year after a claim is filed. Most of the damage I have seen is not in emergency need of repair, however it has damaged the roof to a point that it will need replaced soon,” Yager said.

According to Yager, there have been a few new roofing companies that have started business this past year.

With contractors receiving so much business and people needing to get repairs done within a certain time frame, Yager sees the new roofing businesses as a “good thing” but he asks people to use caution when choosing a contractor.

“Some of these companies may not have workers comp insurance, the proper liability insurance or a business license,” Yager said.