Post Date May 25, 2013 –  Oklahoma Homeowners Insurance will pay more than two billion dollars in damages after a  tornado batters an Oklahoma suburb, killing more than 20 people.  The Oklahoma Department of Insurance stated the official preliminary estimated claims were based on assessments in the areas damaged by the tornado which touched down in Moore, OK  on Monday, May 20.  The disaster zone cut out a strip of land about a mile wide and more than 17 miles long.  The Tornado leveled a thousand homes, many of which were destroyed completely.  According to official estimates, around 13,000 homes have been affected resulting in Oklahoma Homeowners Insurance Claims.

Oklahoma homeowners insurance rates on the rise

The two billion dollars in Oklahoma Homeowners Insurance Claims has been limited to homes and other infrastructures. These figures do not include other insurance related damage to other property such as cars, trucks and other types of vehicles. The National Weather Service  classified  the tornado as an EF5 with wind speeds of more than 200 mph.  News footage from the disaster show debris from structures and cars that were pulverized.  This is not the first time residents in OK were forced to use their Oklahoma Homeowners Insurance.  In 1999, Moore residents had experienced same fate when a tornado also battered their community that brought about $1.4 billion in insured losses. But insured losses on the recent tornado incident in Moore might exceed that of the damages sustained by Joplin in 2011. Homeowners Insurance  losses from tornado incidents in the United States last year registered a $14.9 billion in insured losses. With the amount of damage incurred in Oklahoma recently, residents may experience a spike on their Oklahoma Homeowners Insurance payments this next few years.

-Mike 

Michael E. Dortch
President &  Senior Agent
InsureDirect.com
Corporate Home Office
618 South Broad Street
Lansdale, Pennsylvania  19446
(800) 807-0762  ext. 206