VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — It’s been nearly 16 months since a tornado tore through Virginia Beach, reaching wind speeds of up to 145 miles per hour and damaging more than 100 homes.
For many homeowners in the storm's path, the journey to repair the damage is far from over, and many say that's thanks to insurance companies standing in their way.
State Sen. Bill DeSteph, Virginia Commissioner of Insurance Scott White, and representatives with the State Corporation Commission's Bureau of Insurance heard from many of those residents at a community meeting on Wednesday night.
White thanked residents for attending, saying, "I just toured a house and it was really painful to see, you could just tell the lives that lived in that house are no longer there, the house is in disrepair. That's a really stark symbol of what shouldn't happen."
"I'm sure everyone in here could speak for hours about the problems they've had with insurance companies," said resident Carrie Triepel.
Homeowners asked insurance officials a variety of questions, including how to proceed if the company has left the state since the storm. Andrea Baytop with the Property and Casualty Division replied, "As long as your policy was enforced at the time of the tornado, then yes, you can file a claim."
Residents also shared a variety of frustrations, from changing adjusters, to low estimates to delayed timelines.
One resident told her neighbors, "I had 23 trees fall on my house and on my cars. We’ve sent over 400 emails and photos back and forth, and the burden’s always on us."
She added, "We’ve been the victim in this whole process, it’s a natural disaster, but it’s up to us to provide the documentation. I just feel like, is this how you treat somebody?"
DeSteph noted one audience member was just assigned their 15th adjuster.
The Bureau of Insurance officials told attendees many of them had grounds to file complaints through the organization. "With the complaint process, we can bring them to the insurance companies and specifically address that," said Will Felvey.
Residents with comments/concerns about their property and casualty insurance, including home and auto, can contact the Property and Casualty Division at 1-877-310-6560 or in Richmond at 804-371-9185.