Prepared to Help You

Long before Delta formed into a major hurricane, State Farm put plans in motion to quickly respond to help.

Our Claims Central Coordination Group springs into action any time a potentially catastrophic storm begins to form - establishing a three-phase response plan.

During phase one, the group meets several times daily. They discuss the National Hurricane Center’s and AccuWeather path forecasts. They assess variances in the predicted path and rework plans as the storm’s cone of uncertainty changes. This includes projecting where to stage catastrophe services assets and evaluating potential claims response center sites. They also bring together resources from across the company.

Communication is also a key focus in phase one. This ensures our associates are aware and ready to take care of our impacted customers and handle their claims. We also communicate storm preparedness information to customers and the media in the potentially impacted zone.

“There is nobody who does it better or is more prepared than State Farm,” Claims Section Manager Taylor Van Loon said. “We can’t plan for everything because issues come up. But, when something does come up, we are prepared and ready to respond because the foundation is in place.”

When State Farm begins the planning for these major events - whether it’s a hurricane along the coast, the ongoing wildfires on the West Coast, a tornado outbreak or winter storms - preparation is key. We talk to our team about things like agent business continuity and give virtual claims handling demos. It’s all about building confidence in everybody involved that we have the ability to respond no matter the storm's strength.

Phase two will begin when Delta makes landfall and phase three will come after the storm – once Catastrophe Services has been fully implemented.

“We are in comfortable spot,” Taylor said. “There are no nerves. We are prepared and ready because we have done this before. Now it is a matter of executing the plan we have in place.”