Insurance claims high in Fox Valley

FOX VALLEY - The late July storms that swept through the Fox Valley, are turning out to be costly ones. Insurance companies are beginning to release claim numbers, including one that expects to make $20 million worth of payments.

"It hit my siding and my roof, my cars, my vehicles," Martin Vargas said of damage he received in the storms.

Like many in the area, he took his car to a claims adjuster hoping for coverage.

"Little bit concerned you know," he said. "It's the first time I've seen the bigger hail."

American Family Insurance received 4,500 claims from the storm. They came from Appleton, Wausau and Rice Lake and triggered the agency's catastrophe team.

"We go in and support the local claims operation," Tracy Groth with the company said. "In order to take care of those claims quickly, fairly, we need the extra people."

American Family moved 60 employees to the area and opened a drive through claim center.

State Farm has also mobilized a catastrophe team in the Fox Valley. Agents there are reporting more than 1,600 hundred homeowner claims and nearly 1,500 auto, though the company won't say what it plans to pay.

Contractor Nick Thomas with SPS roofing is seeing the results.

"Busy, sun up till sun down," Thomas said.

Between delivering materials and inspecting roofs, he's barely seen his wife.

"We had lunch and had two hours for our wedding anniversary and I had 37 missed calls when I came back," Thomas said.

If you think you have damage, he says you should call your insurer right away to get the process rolling.

He also recommends picking a local contractor. Traveling companies are tough to hold liable for shoddy work, he says.

"They're vanished, gone, phone number doesn't work, they don't exist anymore," he said.

Thomas expects local contractors to be busy, this summer and the next.

"It's definitely going to be work all the way until snow falls," he said.

American Family says there is no time limit on filing a claim, but with winter on the way it's best to have your property inspected now.