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Much Of Labor Day Weekend 5.8-Magnitude Earthquake Damage Not Covered By Insurance

A 5.8-magnitude earthquake damaged the facade of a brick building in the city of Pawnee, Okla.
Joe Wertz
/
StateImpact Oklahoma
A 5.8-magnitude earthquake damaged the facade of a brick building in the city of Pawnee, Okla.

Only 1 percent of insurance claims were paid in the month following Oklahoma’s largest earthquake on record struck near Pawnee.

The magnitude 5-point-8 temblor centered near Pawnee damaged buildings and injured one person. Of the 274 claims reported to the state Insurance Department, four have been paid, 39 were closed without payment, 17 were denied, two were under investigation and 212 are still open.

Insurance Commissioner John Doak told The Oklahoman’s Brianna Bailey most people in the Pawnee area with property damage didn’t carry earthquake coverage:

Earthquake insurance policies typically have high deductibles and are meant to only cover damage from catastrophic loss, said Doak. Each individual property owner has to make a decision on whether purchasing coverage is right for them, he said. "I have earthquake insurance personally on my home — if you do not have it, you are basically self-insuring that entire risk element with no other means to cover the cost," Doak said. The state Insurance Department has also worked to dispel myths about insurance coverage and when it can be purchased. Some residents in the Pawnee area wrongly believed they were unable to purchase earthquake insurance for as long as six months after an earthquake in the state, because of a moratorium on new policies after a quake, Doak said.

Scott Poynter, an attorney from Arkansas who’s already representing several property owners against oil and gas companies for damage sustained in the 2011 5.6 magnitude temblor near Prague, is exploring similar litigation on behalf of property owners near Pawnee.

From Bailey:

It's difficult to estimate the cost of property damage from the 5.8-magnitude earthquake, the largest ever recorded in Oklahoma. The state Department of Emergency Management said it has not gathered data on damage costs from the quake. In 2015, the state Supreme Court reversed a lower court's decision to dismiss [Prague resident Jennifer Lin] Cooper's case. The ruling secures the right of Oklahomans to sue the oil and gas companies for their property damage claims and have their case heard before a jury, Poynter said. "Most people didn't have insurance in Prague," Poynter said. "In Pawnee, I haven't met anyone who has told me they had insurance and the claim has been paid."

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Brian Hardzinski is from Flower Mound, Texas and a graduate of the University of Oklahoma. He began his career at KGOU as a student intern, joining KGOU full time in 2009 as Operations and Public Service Announcement Director. He began regularly hosting Morning Edition in 2014, and became the station's first Digital News Editor in 2015-16. Brian’s work at KGOU has been honored by Public Radio News Directors Incorporated (PRNDI), the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters, the Oklahoma Associated Press Broadcasters, and local and regional chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists. Brian enjoys competing in triathlons, distance running, playing tennis, and entertaining his rambunctious Boston Terrier, Bucky.
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