March Storms Trigger Claims Spike
March storms pushed the industry to a surge — about 38,000 claims across multiple U.S. states and two insurers reporting notable storm‑loss spikes — stressing scalable claims and SIU workflows. The event underlines the operational need for surge triage, fraud filtering, and rapid data normalization across systems. (insurancebusinessmag.com)
State Farm reported receiving more than 35,000 home and auto claims as of March 16, 2026, with its highest claim counts in Illinois, Ohio and Missouri and hail and wind cited as the most common causes of loss. American Family Insurance logged 3,400 claims tied to the March 5–11 storm systems and deployed a mobile claims team to Bradley in Kankakee County, Illinois, according to company comments attributed to spokesperson Brandon Harrison. Aon’s event analysis put insured losses from the early‑March systems in the “low‑to‑mid single‑digit billions” range and noted the storms occurred in two waves (March 5–7 and March 9–11), including a 6.1‑inch hailstone measured in Kankakee that may be a state record. Moody’s RMS event response (updated March 17, 2026) recorded 22 tornado reports, 747 straight‑line wind reports and 59 hail reports for the March 15–16 outbreak, and Aon counted nearly 1,000 preliminary storm and flooding reports from March 5–11—data points insurers are using to prioritize field adjusters and catastrophe teams. Both carriers activated in‑person claims operations and issued consumer‑protection guidance—State Farm opened a Bradley, IL customer care site and posted tips on avoiding contractor fraud, while American Family set up appointment‑based drive‑in auto inspections and multiple mobile claims sites.
