After paying Oklahoma native Richard Perry almost $8,000 for repairs to his tornado-ravaged home,
Farmers Insurance canceled the man’s policy. The cancellation came at a poor time, at the onset of the region’s storm season.
Two tornadoes had struck Perry’s home, the latest was last May.
"This whole side, every window, everything was just gone," Perry said of the damage.
After paying for repairs on both occasions, Farmers send Perry a notification of his cancelled policy—just after two tornadoes.
“Because we live in too high risk of an area, and you've had past claims," quoted Perry from the letter he received.
According to state law, insurance companies can drop customers for filing more than one claim, regardless of the cost of the claim.
"I looked at the claims that these people had and they're not exorbitant. They're not a huge problem. They're not too much, but they were non-renewed," said Buddy Combs, an associate of the Oklahoma Insurance Department. "Well, it could be that they've seen a lot of claims in one area," he said. "It could be because they see some homeowner or some area as a larger risk than others.”
Combs reassured that there are still other insurance companies that would welcome Perry and honor his policy.
