Despite toll on Austin's trees, storm's insured losses to be relatively small, experts say

With the wreckage of fallen trees and tree limbs strewn throughout Austin neighborhoods, much of the city looks as if a tornado or hurricane swept through region.

But the ice storm responsible for the destruction — as well as the power outages that have left thousands of people in the cold and dark — isn't expected to approach those types of disasters, or possibly even a bad hailstorm, in terms of monetary damages, insurance industry experts say.

That's largely because of the unusual nature of the storm, which coated trees with hundreds of pounds of frozen precipitation but didn't pack cold enough temperatures to burst many pipes or cause a large amount of freeze-related damage to structures.

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'A lot of (the damage) is aesthetic'

The result is an apocalypse of downed tree limbs — many of which fell onto power lines and triggered extensive outages — but relatively little in the way of insured damage for a significant winter weather event.

"The claims numbers and the claims volumes are not equal to anything major" so far, said Rich Johnson, a spokesperson for the Insurance Council of Texas, an industry trade group.

"A lot of (the damage) is aesthetic" but probably not covered by insurance, Johnson said, because cleanup from fallen tree limbs and debris typically isn't covered unless homes, vehicles or other insured property has been damaged, or entry to them has been impeded.

As of Friday, about 16,000 insurance claims had been filed statewide stemming from the storm — 12,500 for property damage and 3,500 for automobile damage. Johnson said the overall figure is relatively small, compared with what's typical in the aftermath of a major weather event.

State Farm spokesperson Gina Wilken said her company had received about 1,700 claims statewide stemming from the winter storm, most of which have come from Travis and Williamson counties.

That number is likely to rise, she said, but it's still well below what's typical in the initial days after a major disaster or even a significant hailstorm.

"At this point, it's not a big event," in terms of insured losses, Wilken said.

But that doesn't mean insurers aren't fielding claims because of it, she said, or that people shouldn't file claims if they suffered damage they think might be covered by insurance.

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Most tree damage not covered by insurance

Damage to homes caused by falling trees or tree limbs is generally covered by homeowners policies, Wilken said, as is damage to fences or detached structures, such as garages or sheds. The cost of removing a downed tree that blocks entry to a home or garage is generally covered as well.

But unless the damage is significant, it might not be financially worthwhile to go through with a claim, depending on the cost of repairs compared with a person's insurance deductible.

"If the damage doesn’t even meet your deductible, most likely you are not going to file a claim," Johnson said.

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As for automobiles, he said collision insurance policies generally provide coverage if a person runs into a downed tree.

But that's not the case if a tree falls onto an automobile.

"If you hit a tree (with your car), that would be covered by your collision insurance," Johnson said. "If a tree hits you, it's your comprehensive" insurance policy that covers the damage.

The upshot is that people who lack a comprehensive automobile policy probably aren't covered if a tree or a tree limb fell on their vehicle.

“That would be out of your pocket if you don't have comprehensive coverage," Johnson said.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin tree damage insurance claims small from ice storm so far