Insurance claims have been pouring in more than a week after Hurricane Gustav roared across the Teche Area.

Judy White, public affairs officer for the state Department of Insurance, said State Farm, Allstate and Louisiana Citizens are the three largest policy writers in the state. Each carries policies in the Teche Area.

Gary Stephenson, spokesman for the State Farm Central Zone, consisting of Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Kansas, said as of Tuesday the company has received 40,255 homeowner and property claims and 5,469 automobile claims reported in Louisiana.

Advertisement

Stephenson said the insurance company is offering catastrophe services at several locations including in New Iberia at 501 W. Admiral Doyle Drive.

April Eaton, senior corporate relations manager for Allstate, said it is too soon to tell the amount of damage her company’s customers experienced.

“Because we are a publicly traded company, we have a process that we follow with releasing numbers such as claims, which happens only with our quarterly financial announcements,” Eaton said. “We have responded aggressively to the storm with 1,000 personnel on the ground and 15 mobile catastrophe units.”

Allstate’s catastrophe unit in the Teche Area is located in the Wal-Mart parking lot at 1205 E. Admiral Doyle Drive in New Iberia.

Louisiana Citizens, a state-run insurance company, is the third largest homeowners insurer in the state.

John Wortman, Citizens CEO, said the company processed more than 15,000 Gustav-related claims and sent out more than 3,000 checks so far.

“We are still taking calls, and our customers need to first contact their providers, the name of which they will find at the top of their policy,” he said. “Bankers Insurance can be reached at (800) 973-4953, First Premium at (888) 741-0088 and the MacNeil Group at (877) 527-4222.”

Wortman said in comparison to Hurricane Katrina the impact of Hurricane Gustav seems to be considerably less.

“For Katrina we processed 65,000 claims,” he said. “We probably have over half of our claims reported, and the damages don’t seem to be nearly as severe.”

Stephenson said people should be focused on the three Rs — reporting claims, making temporary repairs and recording damaged property.

“People ask in times like these about future preparations and there are three things that people can do,” Stephenson said. “People need to know what their insurance policy covers. They need to sit down with their agent or representative and find out. They need to update, every two or three years, their insurance coverage making sure they are covered for big-ticket purchases, additions or remodels. And they need to do a home inventory, photographs and video, room by room, documenting all that is there.

“You would be amazed how much can be forgotten when something happens.”