(Bloomberg) -- Insurers including Allstate Corp. and USAA have readied claims and catastrophe teams in nearby states as Hurricane Ida bears down on Louisiana.
Allstate, the second-biggest home insurer in Louisiana, has workers who handle claims on standby in Alabama and Texas, safe from the full brunt of the storm, so they can help customers after it makes landfall, according to spokesperson April Eaton. United Services Automobile Association has catastrophe-response teams staged in Texas, prepared to move in once allowed by authorities, according to spokesperson Rebekah Nelson.
Hurricane Ida, now a Category 4 hurricane with some of the strongest winds ever to hit Louisiana, is lashing the state on the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. was the top writer of home policies in Louisiana last year, according to A.M. Best data compiled by Bloomberg Intelligence. State Farm, Progressive Corp. and Allstate were also the top car insurers in that state last year.
Read more about Hurricane Ida's path toward Louisiana
USAA's Nelson said claims have already started to roll in, and the insurer is advising customers to try to file them digitally because phone centers could become inundated.
“From a claims standpoint, we are doing as many virtual inspections as we can,” Nelson said.
Louisiana is one of the stormiest states for Allstate. Hurricanes and tropical storms accounted for 82% of all the company's catastrophe claims in Louisiana in the past 20 years, according to Eaton.
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