Jared Seyl Farmers Insurance: Three Common Summer Home Insurance Claims

Summer means a nice vacation with the family, great weather, and long road trips. However, summer isn’t all blue skies and sunny days; it also brings summer rain and some pretty extreme weather. Each season, Farmers Insurance releases a Seasonal Smarts Digest to help homeowners and policy holders prepare for the months ahead. Based on data from the past five years, Farmers has identified the top three seasonal hazards for summer:

1. Hail. Farmers Insurance says that 31% of all hail claims filed yearly takes place in the summer. In Colorado, hail is most common between March and October. In fact, this phenomenon is not limited to Colorado alone – the confluence of Colorado, Nebraska, and Wyoming is known as “Hail Alley” because of the frequency of hail during summer. Much of it occurs during afternoon and evening. In July 2010, more than a foot of hail was recorded in Boulder County, Colorado, while as recently as June 2015, up to four feet of hail fell in one city block in Denver.

2. Water. Colorado weather is so predictable that local TV stations have their own annual summer storm patterns. Light winds combine with fairly high humidity to produce afternoon thunderstorms. While most thunderstorms come and go quickly, early summer thunderstorms can linger above specific locations for some time. This means that there is an increased chance of flooding, which results in water damage sustained by houses in flooded areas. According to the Farmers Insurance Seasonal Smarts Digest, 20% of water damage claims are filed during the warmer months.

3. Wind. Severe wind, also known as windstorms, are a fact of life in Colorado during summer. In fact, across the country, Farmers Insurance estimates that 17% of wind damage claims are filed during the warmer months. Just recently, a severe windstorm hit Lake Pueblo State Park, damaging both boats and structures and forcing Colorado Parks and Wildlife to close the marina. While your house might be located some distance from a lake, high winds could result in damage to roofing, trees, and windows.