GRAFTON, W.Va. — Auto claims from last Thursday’s hail storm in Taylor County tripled the number of auto claims from hail damage typically filed in West Virginia for an entire year. State Farm Insurance has handled claims for 260 homeowner and property claims and 830 auto claims from hail which ranged from the size of golf balls to baseballs in a narrow stretch of Grafton and Taylor County.
“It’s pretty amazing considering that on average the state of West Virginia in a year only sees about 300 auto claims (from hail).” said State Farm Spokesman Dave Phillips. “So in one storm on Thursday, we’ve almost tripled the number of auto claims in the state of West Virginia.”
State Farm has a team of adjusters in Taylor County looking over damage and making assessments. They are finding plenty of work according to Phillips.
“In some vehicles all of the glass is broken and on top of that damage the body and the body carriage of the car,” he said. “When you look at homeowner damage, because there was wind involved, shingles and pieces of roofing material have come off and denting on a lot of aluminum siding as well as glass breakage that occurred in a lot of the homes.”
The average auto claim for an automobile from hail damage is around $3,400 according to State Farm. The average homeowner claim for damage to a home can run in excess of $11,000.