A hailstorm that hit Jackson, Miss. and surrounding suburbson March 18 has produced 40,000 homeowners and automobile claims,says the Mississippi Insurance Department.

The MID says carriers report they have paid out more than$25 million in damages on nearly 10,000 homeowners claims and morethan 31,000 auto claims from the storm, which dumped hail largerthan a baseball on 18 counties. Reports say privateand state-owned properties, hospitals and school weredamaged.

The total claims count is expected to exceed 60,000 wheninsurance companies update their figures this week, says theinsurance department.

“The department is very pleased with the way the companies areresponding to consumers and processing claims,” says Mike Chaney,state insurance commissioner, in a statement. “We have had very fewcomplaints about the claims process.”

State Farm spokesman Roszell Gadson says the leading insurer inMississippi has received about 15,790 auto claims and 6,575homeowners claims. A few mobile claims sites in the region remainup and running, he adds.

Aon Benfield says storm activity in the eastern U.S. during theweek of March 18 spawned a variety of damaging weather from theSoutheast to the Northeast, and likely caused over $100 million ininsured losses in Mississippi alone.

Gadson says State Farm has received more than 46,000 claims inMississippi, Georgia and Alabama from this spat of weatheractivity.

The top personal-lines insurer in Mississippi is State Farm,with a 2012 market share of 26.3 percent, according to SNLFinancial. Southern Farm Bureau is next with a 14.4 percentmarket share, followed by Allstate, with 9.9 percent; Nationwide,with 6.6 percent; and Progressive, with 6.1 percent.

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