State insurance commissioner reminds you to check your coverage

DES MOINES — The August derecho did millions of dollars in damage to farms, homes, and property — with a majority of the damage covered by insurance.

Iowa Insurance Commissioner Doug Ommen says the derecho damage itself should not impact insurance rates. “Even though this even was really substantial — part of the way insurance companies operate — they should be including that risk in their premiums. So, I don’t see any substantial change,” Ommen says.

He says insurance rates could be impacted by the larger impact of events nationwide. “If you look across the country, we are seeing more claims generally in property and casualty. Whether you look at some of the wind storms that we are seeing down along the gulf coast and of course some of the fire events that we are seeing out in the mountains and in California,” according to Ommen. “Overall it is showing an increase in claims — which long-term is going to have some impact on premiums.”

Ommen says the crucial thing for everyone is to be sure you have the coverage you need for your situation. “Take the time to look at those insurance policies, to talk to a licensed insurance producer to have a good understanding of what kind of coverage they have,” Ommen says.

While federal disaster funds have helped with some of the damages that weren’t covered by insurance in the derecho, Ommen says that is not available with every storm. He says the first line of defense should be your personal insurance coverage. “So often what we see is, when an event comes through then consumers are frustrated because they don’t have coverage that they thought they had. At the same time, they haven’t really evaluated their coverage — that’s how you end up with losses that are not insured,” Ommen says. ” And again this storm impacted a large part of our state — but frankly, anywhere in Iowa could be impacted by this storm, or the other types of storms that hit our state.”

Ommen says you should go over your insurance coverage each time it comes up for renewal and discuss any changes in the policy, or changes in your situation that need to be covered.