Roof Insurance

It's beginning to sound like a broken record on the morning commutes across Idaho's Treasure Valley. If it's not a winter weather warning, it's a winter weather advisory. Either one of these warnings means there's more misery on the way. “Here at seven or 8 o’clock at night, a lot of nights lately, just wanting to get everyone called back and get their questions answered about the weather.” Lee Pounds is an insurance agent for Farm Bureau working out of the office in Payette, Idaho. In his region, heavy snowfall is causing buildings to collapse like dominoes. Simple farm barn structures, storage sheds, lumber sheds, grain elevators, huge horse training arenas, and onion sheds full of onions ready to be packaged and sent to markets. The losses are in the millions. Calls to insurance agents are plentiful. “I've seen more buildings go down in the last three weeks than I have seen in years. It just happened last night. You know about what time? One thing we have appreciated a lot is when people call and ask what they have. That is because not everybody has collapse coverage on their outbuildings.” As snow continues to fall, Pounds is encouraging preventive measures to property owners. “Because we have never have weather like this, there are a lot of losses in outbuildings due to collapse and people need to be out there if at all possible, trying to clear their roofs.