May 16, 2025 Tornado Insurance Claims

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The May 16, 2025 tornado left a devastating path across St. Louis and surrounding communities. Homeowners, businesses, and nonprofits are now facing a second disaster: slow responses, partial payments, and improper claim denials from insurance carriers.
The Winters Law Group represents property owners in ensuring full and prompt payment for tornado-related damage. 

Insurers must fully indemnify policyholders for all tornado-related damage, including:

• Roof, window, and siding damage
• Structural movement and compromised framing
• Water intrusion, interior damage, and mold
• Mechanical, electrical, and HVAC systems
• Contents, business personal property, and inventory
• Loss of use, emergency repairs, and code upgrades (O&L)

When properly presented, these items are recoverable under most residential and commercial policies.

  Property owners are experiencing predictable insurer behavior:

• Underpaid estimates designed to minimize scope.
• Delays in inspections, supplements, and communication.
• Denials of causation blaming pre-existing conditions.
• Refusal to pay code upgrades despite clear triggers.
• Improper calculation of recoverable depreciation through manipulation of claims estimating software.
• Bad-faith tactics, including ignoring evidence or delaying payment without justification.

These issues are actionable. Courts have repeatedly rejected these insurer strategies.

 We represent homeowners, commercial property owners, nonprofits, and small businesses impacted by the tornado. Our work includes:

• Coordinating engineering, moisture mapping, and contractor inspections.
• Preparing a complete, evidence-supported proof of loss.
• Challenging insurers’ engineers and estimating software manipulation.
• Demanding full payment of RCV, ACV, O&L, tear-outs, and consequential damage.
• Filing suit when an insurer delays, underpays, or denies in bad faith.

Our firm handles these cases on a contingency basis—you pay nothing unless we recover additional funds.

• Your insurer issued a quick estimate that seems too low.
• Depreciation was withheld without explanation.
• Damage was improperly attributed to “age,” “wear,” or “maintenance.”
• Only partial repairs were approved.
• One or more reputable contractors' estimates are significantly higher.

If any of these have occurred, you likely have an underpayment.

We provide a direct, professional evaluation of your claim and outline the most efficient path to full recovery.

Call The Winters Law Group at (314) 499-5200 or fill out the a Free Case Evaluation form below.