Sen. Hawley vs State Farm

Sen. Josh Hawley escalated his fight with State Farm on April 15, accusing the insurer of delaying or denying tornado claims for Missouri homeowners nearly a year after the storms. (hawley.senate.gov) In a letter to State Farm Chief Executive Officer Jon Farney, Hawley said his office is still hearing complaints about slow payouts, low offers, unpaid temporary housing and debris-removal costs after eastern Missouri tornadoes in May 2025. (hawley.senate.gov) Hawley tied the letter to his Senate role as chair of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee on disaster management, saying he would keep investigating State Farm’s practices in Missouri and nationwide and urging cooperation with any federal probe. (hawley.senate.gov) The dispute reaches back to the May 16, 2025 tornado that tore through St. Louis. Hawley warned insurers three days later to pay eligible claims “in full” and said his office had opened a constituent hotline for residents reporting denials or underpayments. (fox2now.com) Hawley had already widened the issue beyond Missouri before that storm. On May 13, 2025, his Senate subcommittee held a hearing on insurers’ claims practices after natural disasters, with State Farm operations vice president Michael Keating listed as a witness. (hsgac.senate.gov) The weather damage in eastern Missouri stretched across multiple outbreaks in 2024 and 2025. The National Weather Service’s St. Louis office lists major tornado and severe-wind events on May 16, 2025, April 20, 2025 and several dates in spring 2024, including May 26 and May 7-8. (weather.gov) State Farm has said it deployed catastrophe teams to Missouri after the May 2025 storms and, as of May 28, 2025, had received about 9,300 home and auto claims in Missouri as part of more than 32,650 claims across seven states hit by the same severe-weather stretch. (newsroom.statefarm.com) The company said local agents, on-site catastrophe adjusters and customer-care sites were available, and that customers could file claims through agents, a hotline, its app or its website. (newsroom.statefarm.com) Missouri regulators were also pulled into the response after the St. Louis tornado. Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance officials said in May 2025 that they were helping residents file claims, and the department later issued a bulletin on claim holdbacks tied to the storm response. (missourinet.com) (govdelivery.com) Hawley’s latest letter turns that broader insurance debate back onto one carrier and one state. Nearly a year after the tornadoes he cited, the pressure point is no longer storm damage alone, but how fast and how fully policyholders say they are being paid. (hawley.senate.gov)