The Missouri Department of Commerce & Insurance published a bulletin informing insurers of a temporary change to the claim holdback requirement for victims of the St. Louis tornado on May 16, 2025. The tornado damaged over 10,000 buildings.

According to a St. Louis ordinance, if there is a covered claim for damage that exceeds 50 percent of the value of the policy, the insurer must pay 25 percent of the claim proceeds to the office of the Comptroller, who will hold that money in an interest bearing account. That mandatory holdback is being waived for structures that sustained 50 percent or more damage as a result of the tornado. Insurers should make all payments directly to the insured without withholding any portion.

The waiver is only for properties located in the Tornado Impact Area, which includes the following neighborhoods:

• Wydown Skinker, Skinker DeBaliviere, DeBaliviere Place, Central West End, West End, Visitation Park, Academy, Fountain Park, Lewis Place, Vandeventer, Hamilton Heights, Wells Goodfellow, Kingsway West, Kingsway East, Greater Ville, The Ville, Jeff Vanderlou, Mark Twain, Penrose, O’Fallon, Fairground Park, Fairground, North Riverfront, O’Fallon Park, and College Hill

The waiver is effective immediately and remains in place until December 31, 2026. The waiver does not apply to any other properties damaged by any other event besides the tornado on May 16th. All other eligible losses are still subject to the withholding law.