Quick: Insurance adjusters will trust records

As cleanup continues in Southeast Nebraska, the focus turns from the devastation to beginning the long process of rebuilding. The first step for many victims is contacting insurance companies.

"Fourteen hours after the tornado we had people out to begin responding," said Kevin English, State Farm Catastrophe Coordinator for Nebraska.

English estimated State Farm has received more than 500 claims from the storms.

State Farm representative Denny Quick of Beatrice said the first step will be to determine who is most in need of help.

"They will put people in different severity codes and begin working with the people who are most in need," Quick said.

Quick said that with such widespread damage, most companies will send additional teams of adjusters into the area to make sure that their customers receive the support they need. Quick cautioned, however, that residents should be patient.

"The loss is so widespread that (adjusters) are spreading out and handling the most necessary cases first, so just basically be patient," Quick said.

Yet, Quick said, there are things that can be done to help agents working on claims.

"Go ahead and make emergency repairs but keep track of the bills and make sure your agent gets them, and begin making a list of personal property that is lost for the adjusters," Quick said.

English said adjusters don't expect people not to touch their belongings and just to use good judgment.

"We don't expect people to wait for us to get there. Obviously there are things not to throw away until a claims agent has seen it, but if they have a fridge full of food that is spoiling we trust them that they needed to get rid of it," English said.

Things that should be saved include unique items, items of value and anything unusual as values may be harder to be determined without seeing these items.

According to Quick, adjusters can usually advance money to those involved in the disaster so they can get emergency supplies and needed items, but getting settlements for damaged property may take longer.

"Most houses in Nebraska have a set value and the adjusters will look at the amount of destruction. If the damage gets to a percentage of total value, most of the time they will just let you start over instead of repairing," Quick said.

However, that is not absolute and can change with different policies and companies.

While the major concern of most residents is their property, there are concerns from farmers about damage to crops.

"We haven't had too much damage and it was mostly a mixed bag," said Nebraska Crop Insurance co-owner Howard Rains. "We had some reports of flooding and hail damage, some damage from wind, as well as damage from debris but it could have been a lot worse."

According to Rains, more than 20 percent of a unit must be damaged in order for the damage to be covered by insurance.

Unit sizes are defined in the insurance policy and vary in size.

Insurance companies usually wait at least 10-14 days after damage has occurred to determine if the crop will recover.

"Usually if the crop is going to come back it will within that time, otherwise it's probably gone," Rains said.

Rains said residents dealing with crop damage should keep in contact with their agent and keep them informed.

"You hope it never happens to you, but tornadoes, wind and hail happen in this state and you have to be prepared for it," Rains said.