VA. FARM BUREAU AIDS FLORIDA:

The Richmond-based Virginia Farm Bureau’s longtime slogan–Helping you is what we do best–crossed state lines all the way to Florida recently after four major hurricanes devastated the Sunshine State and created thousands of insurance claims. “In this situation, I knew Florida would need assistance,” said Rick Mattox, director of claims for Virginia Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co. “Rather than waiting for them to ask, I made calls and offered help if they needed it.” He sent six people for a two-week period beginning Sept. 20. The VFBMIC field claims representatives traveled to Punta Gorda, Gainesville and Lakeland, where they inspected losses, wrote damage estimates and conducted re-inspections. “The situation boiled down to a real numbers problem. With four hurricanes hitting the state within a month, it was just overwhelming the number of assignments the claims people there were having to tackle,” said Larry Wills, a field claims representative from Isle of Wight County who was stationed in Gainesville. “We basically worked all seven days each week we were there, minus the break we took when Hurricane Jeanne arrived.” Other out-of-state workers included people from Texas, Kentucky and Arkansas, Wills said. “I suspect that there were plenty more states represented. The Farm Bureau network really works to supply help wherever it’s necessary. People readily volunteer to do whatever is needed.” At least 290 claims adjusters were sent from 21 state Farm Bureaus, according to Frank Leonard, vice president of claims for Florida Farm Bureau. “A normal year’s worth of property and casualty claims for us is between 25,000 and 27,000,” he said “We’ve had more than 30,000 claims in a month’s time. It’s hard to say how long out-of-state adjusters will be here. The help we have will take us through the end of October. At that point we will re-evaluate the situation, but we foresee the work on these claims taking through the end of this year and into the next.”