DES MOINES, Iowa -- More than a $1.6 billion in insurance claims have been paid after the August 10th Iowa derecho.
"This is one of those circumstances where you hope you don't need to have some sort of involvement with your insurance company. But, those companies need to step up and take care of the people who've been paying premiums for all these years" says Iowa Insurance Commissioner Doug Ommen.
He says 160,000 of more than 200,000 Iowa insurance claims have been paid.
Ommen says more than half of all the claims paid in Iowa have been to homeowners--nearly $877 million.
"Issues involving roofs and siding, and of course the very large number of downed trees, When they come down they fall on property and damage it" he says.
Ommen says the derecho is a good reminder to know what your insurance will cover--and what it won't.
"So often we see consumers that, after an event, are frustrated with their insurance companies because they didn't really understand the coverage they had" he says.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says estimates damages from the August derecho, which raced from Iowa to Indiana, at $7.5 billion, making it the most expensive thunderstorm disaster in U.S. history.