State Farm cut claim payouts $1.4 billion after changing how it judged hail damage

Unsealed court records show an internal State Farm email crediting the company's new wind-and-hail claims strategy with cutting indemnity payments by about $1.4 billion from 2020 to 2021. Over the same span, roof replacements fell from 5.6 for every repair to 2.0. About 1,000 Oklahoma homeowners allege the insurer quietly narrowed what counts as hail damage without changing a word of their policies. State Farm denies wrongdoing and says it has paid Oklahoma customers more than $1 billion for wind and hail damage over the past two years.

• Indemnity payments down about $1.4 billion, 2020 to 2021