Few Claims Reported From Winter Storm Juno

Winter Storm Juno — a blizzard that swept through the Northeast during the last week of January and brought record and near-record snowfalls and high winds — has resulted in relatively few insurance claims so far, according to industry participants.

The blizzard mostly impacted southeastern Connecticut, Rhode Island, eastern Massachusetts and Cape Cod and the Islands, New Hampshire and Maine, as well as eastern Long Island in New York. The storm snowfall ranged from a few inches to two to three feet. In heavily hit Massachusetts, communities west of Boston received the greatest snowfall, reaching up to 36 inches. Many parts of Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Maine received snowfalls of 20 inches or more. Rhode Island saw some snow depths above 20 inches.

A State Farm spokesperson said on Monday, Feb. 2, that the company had very little claim activity from this event for the New York and New England regions.

Tony Payne, vice president of business development at Clark Insurance, an independent agency with offices in Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, also said on Monday that the agency didn’t see much change in claim activity.

“We really don’t have much to offer in terms of a wild swing in claim activity. Fender benders were a steady source of calls but very little related to wind or crushing snow loads,” said Payne.

“We continue to receive claims for frozen pipes, however. Nothing unusual for this time of year,” he said. “A couple feet of snow is not a big deal in Maine.”

“Gratefully, the snow was very light in terms of moisture content and Central Maine Power Company has done an excellent job in trimming trees to avoid power outages,” said Payne.

Rogers & Gray Insurance, an independent agency with eight locations in Massachusetts, said on Monday that it had very few claims with regard to Winter Storm Juno. “We did have three flood claims on the same road in Eastham, Massachusetts, [in the Cape Cod region] including water in basement, one was truck that was flooded and the third one had water up to the first floor,” a Rogers & Gray Insurance spokesperson said.

“Other than that, we have not had any other serious claims. A few minor car accidents, cracked windshields etc.,” the spokesperson said of the claim activity, adding that the Massachusetts governor, as well as local officials, enforced a travel ban, which helped keep accidents to a minimum. “Most people respected the fact that this was a powerful storm and stayed home to ride out the snow, keeping accidents to a minimum,” the spokesperson said.

Timothy Brenneman, executive director of personal insurance at Cook Maran & Associates, an independent agency with offices in New Jersey and the Long Island section of New York, also reported light claim activity.

“We had little in the way of claim experience after the storm,” Brenneman told Insurance Journal Monday. “Several auto claims associated with the poor driving conditions but virtually no homeowner or property damage losses.”

“This is just an opinion — we experienced an old fashioned snow storm but not a claim event. The snow was not a wet snow and the winds were such that the snow did not attach to power lines or trees,” he said. “As a result, I didn’t see any trees down locally and very few people on Long Island lost power.”

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Topics New York Claims Windstorm Massachusetts Maine New Hampshire