Insurance claims, payouts climbing with severe storms across Kansas, U.S.

WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) – As many Kansans continue cleaning up from this weekend’s storms, a new report from Bloomberg finds storm damage throughout the country steadily increasing. Statewide, the Kansas Insurance Department continues to see millions of dollars in payouts.

In 2023, the state’s insurance department reported nearly 145,000 storm damage claims resulting in about $443 million in storm claim losses paid out by insurance companies. The recent round of storms that tore through several areas, including towns in Harvey County, left plenty of work for companies like Wray Roofing, Inc. and Shield Roofing. In Newton, the roofers report working around the clock since Sunday.

“There has been a large volume of calls,” summarized Deven Phillips with Shield Roofing.

Representing Wray Roofing, Kent Jost reported pulling crews off of regularly scheduled jobs, “just to make sure everybody stays dry and until insurance can get out and get everything adjusted.”

The local roofing companies reported seeing most of the damage from wind and hail.

“Wind does the most damage. Hail is kind of something that not very many people know until it is on the car,” Phillips said. “But, yeah, hail’s been a pretty big factor and it’s starting to increase in size, duration of it, and frequency.”

The companies agree that numerous claims from last can be expected in an active-weather state like Kansas, and they share some advice.

“You don’t want to file a claim preemptively and not actually have enough damage to where now, you’re going to have a negative strike against you,” Phillips said. “So always call out a qualified, trusted, contractor to evaluate those damages first before actually calling the insurance.”

This storm season, if you or someone you know is having trouble with an insurance claim, you can contact the Kansas Department of Insurance’s Consumer Assistance Division toll-free at 1-800-432-2484, by email at kdoi.complaints@ks.gov or online at www.insurance.kansas.gov for any claims-related questions or concerns.

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