Oklahoma Insurance Dept. Issues Warning About Scammers After Tornado Outbreak

A warning from the Oklahoma Insurance Department as storm recovery is underway across parts of the state. They said families need to be aware of scammers.

In homeowners’ most vulnerable state, the Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner said that's when scammers seem to attack. 

He encourages homeowners to be on guard before handing over a check to a contractor.

Many tornado survivors talk about the calm before the storm hits, but Glen Mulready said what can come after the storm is just as frightening.

“Unfortunately, behind every storm, in the shadow, literally, of every storm are bad actors,” Mulready said.

Those bad actors are scammers.

“They're knocking on doors saying we can repair your roof, we can fix this and we need a deposit check to go get supplies and they're never seen again,” Mulready said.

Mulready has been with the department for four years. He said he's helped Oklahomans recover from a variety of storms.

“What we saw in 2019 with the flood, 90 percent of the damage was not insured. Again, that just makes for a slow painful recovery,” Mulready said.

One thing he notices is that seniors are a target for post storm fraud.

“We always highly recommend number one contact your insurance company or your insurance agent once to file a claim and secondly you can usually get from your insurance agency some good recommendations of contractors or from family and friends,” Mulready said.

Mulready said his team are like second responders to storms.

“We come in really a couple weeks later when folks have filed insurance claims and they need assistance or they're having trouble getting an adjuster to come out to their house,” Mulready said.

Mulready said you can give his agency a call if you need assistance with filing a claim or understanding your insurance policy by clicking here or calling 1-800-522-0071.