Natural disaster season, insurance claims, and you

  • Published
  • By Dan Holt
  • 6th Air Mobility Wing judge advocate intern
MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  It's that time of year again - it's now officially hurricane season here in the lightning capital of the United States! Should severe weather strike MacDill AFB and cause any damage, you'll want to know how the Air Force Claims Service Center can help. The following is some general information regarding AFCSC and claims arising from severe weather.

Hurricanes, thunderstorms, and severe weather are regular occurrences in the MacDill area, and you should adequately prepare your property to ride out these storms. Regarding severe weather, storms are not ordinarily considered "Acts of God" or "unusual occurrences" for insurance purposes. Storms occur routinely in the MacDill area, and damage claims from regularly occurring storms normally are not paid. However, if a particular storm is of extreme intensity or causes damage to an unexpected degree of severity, it may be considered an unusual occurrence.

AFCSC, with the recommendation of the MacDill Legal Office staff, will make the determination of whether or not any severe weather qualifies as an unusual occurrence and is the final authority. In addition, AFCSC will only consider claims for loss or damage from military and federal civilian employees whose property was located at an authorized location on or off base. There are no provisions to pay claims for contractors or non-base-connected persons. AFCSC can only process the claims of U.S. Air Force employees, so members of other services must file with their respective military branch. If you experience property damage as a result of any qualifying severe weather, be sure to contact your insurance company as soon as possible. If your property has been damaged by any qualifying severe weather, report it to the security forces squadron on base, take photos of the damage and the cause if possible, and report the damage to your private insurer and complete your insurance claim process.

However, you may also need emergency funds to cover the costs of repair or replacement right away. In such emergency situations, AFCSC has an arrangement with the Defense Finance and Accounting Service to provide emergency payments. In order to receive these funds, it is critical you provide the necessary account information and execute the Emergency Payment Agreement. The MacDill AFB Legal Office staff will interview you to determine the need for partial payment/emergency partial payment, and may approve an amount up to (but not exceeding) 50 percent of the total estimated claim value. It is important to note that you must file a claim with your insurance company within two years of the incident and within 90 days of receiving partial payment/emergency partial payment from AFCSC. AFCSC does not consider your claim to be filed until they receive it, so if mailing, be sure to allow plenty of time!

To file a claim electronically log in to https://claims.jag.af.mil. To get a user name, log in from a government computer. If you do not have access to a government computer for your first log-in, call AFCSC at 1-877-754-1212 to be authenticated. If you intend to mail your claim, send all required documents to: AFCSC/JAD, 1050 Forrer Blvd, Dayton, OH 45420. For more information, or for any questions regarding the claims process, call AFCSC at 1-877-754-1212, or email at AFCSC.JA@wpafb.af.mil, or call the MacDill AFB Legal Office Front Desk at 828-4421.