Home insurance companies set up for claims from wildfires

Working from vans and temporary tents set up in parking lots, insurance agents spent Tuesday helping owners of fire-damaged homes file claims.

"We've been hearing of many total losses," said Jerry Davies, a spokesman with Farmers Insurance. "The first concern is helping customers find a place to live, food and clothing. Then we begin the process of the claims."

Farmers, State Farm, Allstate and other insurers have declared the Central Texas fires a catastrophe, which means they are sending in specialized claims workers and equipment to help customers through the process.

Although it's too soon to determine the total amount of insured property losses caused by Texas wildfires, 2011 will be the worst in state history, said Mark Hanna, a spokesman for the Insurance Council of Texas, a trade association of about 500 insurers.

The previous record was set in 2009, when fires caused more than $100 million in insured property damages statewide.

"This weekend, we just surpassed it by a long shot," Hanna said. "Unfortunately, conditions are right in the entire state for this to continue."

A dirt lot at St. Luke's on the Lake Episcopal Church on RM 620 served as a makeshift base for Farmers and State Farm adjusters, who worked with customers from nearby Steiner Ranch. Using laptops, satellite systems and Wi-Fi, they accessed policies, filled out forms and, in some cases, issued checks for emergency living expenses.

"Many in Steiner Ranch still don't know the extent of the damage because they haven't been able to see their homes yet," State Farm adjuster Shane Fordham said. "They're stopping by with questions about how to get started."

State Farm policyholders in Central Texas had filed 210 claims as of Tuesday afternoon, and that number was expected to continue to rise, said Patti Kelly, a spokeswoman for the state's largest insurer.

Brady Webster, a Farmers Insurance field claims supervisor who lives in Bastrop, said urban wildfires are different from many disasters.

"Typically our catastrophes are hail storms, hurricanes and wind storms," Webster said. "By the time we've reacted, the disaster has occurred. This event just keeps going."

On Tuesday, people showed up at an emergency claim center on Texas 71 in Bastrop to begin filing claims even as black-and-white smoke billowed over the city's horizon.

"Most of our walk-ups want to file their claim and tell their story," Webster said. "But many are working on assumptions and hearsay. They don't know if their house is gone or whether their animals are alive."

Many residents couldn't confirm the damage to their homes because Bastrop-area neighborhoods remained closed Tuesday as firefighters struggled to contain the fire.

Insurance officials have encouraged people who have been evacuated to make contact with their insurance agent whether they know if their home is damaged or not. Once an insurance company has received a claim, it has 15 days to say whether it has accepted or rejected the claim. Most policies allow for an appraisal process to settle claim disputes.

As the threat of wildfires continues, officials are urging all Central Texas homeowners to have insurance, banking and other paperwork in order and easy to access in case of sudden evacuation.

Farm insurance hard to understand

What is the biggest difficulty facing the agriculture insurance pilot programme one month into its implementation?

The first difficulty is that premium rates and pay out schedules have yet to be established to attract farmers to purchase agricultural insurance. Second, the programme requires farmers to follow specific production guidelines.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) recently issued production process guidelines for cultivation and breeding. All farming households involved in the production process will be insured to minimise fragmented farming. We can not wait until farmers finish land aggregation to implement agriculture insurance.

Accordingly, it is possible to insure an entire production zone, meaning anyone in that area, regardless if they have one sao (equivalent to 360 sq.m) or one hectare of production area, is eligible for the insurance provided that they follow MARD production process guidelines as well as all local regulations.

Localities are still identifying production zones for the pilot programme.

What reactions have farmers had to agriculture insurance?

They feel inspired when taking part in the agriculture insurance programme. However, participating households have found it difficult to follow the production guidelines. Non-participating households might find the guidelines tough to follow but we will try our best to help them obey the proper processes.

The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs recently completed its surveys of poor households. By this I mean the number of poor households has been specified.

However, the life of a farmer is precarious and natural disasters could easily push them back into poverty. Therefore, the number of poor households will be adjusted every year, which will also provide a basis to determine how much support they will receive when taking part in the agriculture insurance programme.

What have the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, cities and provinces done to provide agriculture insurance?

We disseminated information about the program-me to farmers in targeted provinces immediately after a related Prime Minister decision came into effect on July 1.

The agriculture ministry also informed them about which natural calamities, epidemic diseases and production process they would be insured against. It invited all localities taking part in the pilot programme to contribute opinions to legal documents relevant to agriculture insurance.

It asked participating localities to set up steering committees for the implementation of agriculture insurance. It is relatively easy to implement insurance with cultivation and aquaculture but that is not the case with the husbandry sector. — VNS