The Insurance Council of Texas says claims from the winter storm currently hitting the state may set a record. Hurricane Harvey, which first made landfall near Port Aransas before moving up the coast of Texas in August of 2017, currently holds the record with 763,000 claims totaling $19.6 billion.
"We haven't seen anything like this where one large event hits the entire state, where just about every single Texan is impacted one way or another," says the Insurance Council of Texas' Camille Garcia.
Garcia says the council cannot provide a damage estimate because winter weather is still hitting much of the state. The National Weather Service says no additional freezing precipitation is expected in North Texas. Temperatures may get above freezing Thursday, but winter weather advisories, winter storm warnings and hard freeze warnings still cover much of western and southern Texas.
"Based on the influx of claims we're getting from auto, home, business and renters' insurance, we're looking at hundreds of thousands of claims," Garcia says.
In addition, she says claims are likely to continue for days or even weeks as more of the state returns above freezing.
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"Pipes are still bursting," Garcia says. "When pipes start thawing, that's when folks are going to start seeing the extent of the damage."
She says many will have to wait weeks for a plumber, so those with damage should start documenting problems and taking pictures. Garcia also urges people with frozen pipes now to take "before" pictures to give their agent in case the pipe bursts and causes damage later.
"Taking photos, documenting, keeping receipts are really important so you can have a really good conversation with your agent and adjuster and really give them the breadth of the information you have," she says.