Iowa & Illinois Derecho Storm is not over.

August 10, 2020 Date of Loss

Iowa and Illinois Derecho struck with a vengeance with gusts of up to 140 MPH and unless it was in your backyard very few people knew of the enormous amount of damage it caused. 7.5 Billion dollars at this point and growing each day. As a Public Insurance Adjuster I have never seen tree limbs acting as missiles piercing through walls made of siding ,plywood and plaster.

WHY IT IS NOT OVER

Due to the amount of damages the insurance carriers did have enough competent adjusters who are qualified or even licensed to carry out a proper investigation , thus leaving the policy owners underpaid or denied fair coverage of their claims.

They had field adjusters who just passed a test and absolutely no experience in the field writing claims and offering $1, 900 dollars , when the claim value is worth $38,000 so this leaves the homeowner no alternative but to patch what they can over the winter months with the few dollars they have and then proceed to fight the insurance carrier. This means trying to find contractors who will give them bids and the Iowa labor force is not that large in places like Cedar Rapids so this slows the process when dealing with insurance claims.

One of my clients own a farm and all building on the farm were destroyed except the home but it was left in poor condition with caved in walls , water, cracked plaster everywhere. Because the building had been destroyed we had to forensically rebuild these building with computer driven software and using old photos just so we could properly estimate the amount of damages to all buildings .

Changes need to be made by all states to insure that adjusters for the insurance carriers are properly trained, licensed, bonded, have required field experience, and are held accountable for their actions.

Paul D. Jerde-Advent Public Adjusters, LLC