Several north St. Louis church leaders whose congregations have been damaged by the May tornado said it’s been hard to recover while paying increasingly high insurance premiums.
Pastors and NAACP leaders addressed the public Wednesday during a Spirit of St. Louis Task Force meeting. Faith leaders, members of the American Red Cross Greater St. Louis chapter and the St. Louis Area Foodbank formed the group to assist residents impacted by storms.
Some insurance companies have dropped coverage for churches and residents, said the Rev. Linden Bowie, who is the Spirit of St. Louis Task Force chairman.
“They have a contractual obligation as well, and they're not keeping their part of the contract,” Bowie said.
Bowie said the May tornado amplified long-standing complaints.
Churches have seen premium increases since at least last fall, as well as backers dropping out, the Rev. Winter Hamilton said. Some have even seen premiums increase up to $46,000 per year, she said.
“We offer legal services at some of these churches, there are after school programs at some of these churches.” Hamilton said. “That kind of increase out of nowhere is very difficult for congregations to handle and for staff to handle.”
Prospect Hill Missionary Baptist Church leaders were alerted that their roof would have a large deductible for any wind damage going forward.
“We got hit with a $25,000 deductible just for the roof, and the damage was $26,000,” Senior Pastor Darian Jael Jones said. “What’s the sense in having insurance if you can't use it?”
Other churches have started exploring legal action against the insurance companies, including leaders of Pleasant Green Missionary Baptist Church.
“This has been a long process, and I believe that the process is just getting started,” Senior Pastor Aaron Letcher said. “It is a major inconvenience for our people.”
Metropolitan Congregations United has raised more than $12,000 to support north St. Louis churches damaged by the storm. But many leaders are concerned the damage will perpetuate a ripple effect, leading many to leave the congregations and parts of north St. Louis.
Insurance companies are regulated and overseen by the Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance. St. Louis City NAACP President Adolphus Pruitt said the department needs to properly investigate companies.
“You have to adhere to some regulation and some fair business practices, and the Department of Insurance has failed to ensure that,” he said.
Storm victims are also facing high insurance costs. Bowie said he knows at least one person who purchased insurance two days before the May tornado and was dropped days after the storm.
“This is the kind of thing that we're asking for the oversight [agency] to take a look at and then we also want them to investigate these disparities by ZIP code, to see and compare how insurance companies are treating one ZIP code versus another,” Bowie said.
Task force members will be distributing lawn signs to direct residents to storm resources and information about insurance and FEMA details. The deadline to apply for FEMA Disaster Assistance is Aug. 11.
