The Missouri Department of Insurance states some insurance companies are setting unreasonable timelines for Joplin homeowners attempting to rebuild after the May 22nd tornado. The department issued a bulletin to the industry stating many home and business owners can't be expected to rebuild within the time limits required by some insurance policies.
In the bulletin, John M. Huff, director of the Department of Insurance, states the unprecedented scale of the Joplin tornado prevented many consumers from access to their property and led to a temporary building cessation. He also says the widespread devastation has left the entire area with a shortage of contractors and materials. This has clearly made it impossible for many property owners to rebuild within six months. Six months is the time frame that insurance policies require before paying full benefits.
The bulletin says insurance companies attempting to enforce deadlines of less than one year may face legal action by the department.
Per Huff: "The insurance industry has done a commendable job responding to the tornado, having paid more than a billion dollars in claims so far. At the same time, Missouri law requires insurers to provide prompt, fair and equitable settlements to their policyholders, and rigid deadlines may violate that law."
Huff expects the dollar figure for claims paid in homeowners, auto and commercial property to approach $2 billion by the time all claims are settled. Policyholders have filed nearly 18,000 insurance claims.
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