Couple taking insurance to court for unpaid claims
‘Despite our efforts, the insurer has not come close to meeting the necessary funds for repairs’
It’s been a year since Jay and Tara Dickson started filing insurance claims after an EF-1 tornado caused extensive damage to their 120-year-old home, and one year later the home still has boarded up windows and a tarp over the roof.
With the majority of the claims still unpaid, the Dicksons are now asking a judge for help.
“We went forward and filed a complaint against Allstate,” Jay Dickson said. “Because this happened right before spring last year, I figured this would all be taken care of by the end of summer. But it kept dragging on and on.”
Jay wasn’t home on March 31, 2023, when the tornado made its way to Spring Creek Road near Eisenhower Middle School, only Tara and their toddler were there.
The twister tore five supporting pillars from their front of the house, blew out several windows, destroyed parts of the roof and lifted the entire structure from its foundation. Massive trees fell, missing the house but destroying their iron fence.
Expecting their second child, Tara grabbed her young son and evacuated the house. For the next 2 1/2 months the family stayed with Tara’s mother because their home wasn’t livable.
While the Dicksons are now back in their house, it’s nowhere near fixed.
Windows are still boarded up, the foundation remains damaged and the pillars that help anchor the second floor haven’t been replaced. Flying debris slammed into the house as the tornado came through, damaging siding in several places. In the last year, they’ve gone through three tarps to cover large holes in the roof.
“The vent covers were blown off, so if you stick your hand through, you’re outside,” Jay Dickson said. “And those tarps don’t hold up for a long period of time.”
In total, the Dicksons say they are looking at insurance claims the could be well into six figures to repair their 4,200-square-foot house, one of the first built on Spring Creek Road.
“We are insured by Allstate with a $1 million policy,” said Tara Dickson. “Despite our efforts, the insurer has not come close to meeting the necessary funds for repairs.”
According the the lawsuit, the Dicksons say Allstate “agreed to pay for sudden accidental and direct loss to the insured dwelling and to other insured structures, including fencing, caused by wind.”
They've received a few thousand dollars to remove fallen trees, but they've been either denied or lowballed on the value of the other repairs, the couple said.
Because of the home's age and what will go into preserving the integrity of the structure, contractors have estimated that repairs could end up costing between $200,000 and $400,000 when all is said and done.
The Dicksons hired an independent adjuster last year, hoping to expedite the process and help them receive enough to cover the cost of repairs.
“The public adjuster was dealing with the insurance company on our behalf and was making little increments of progress,” Jay said. “But, by and large, not a whole lot of progress has been made. The company is saying a lot of the damage was due to the age of the home. So the next step was to go ahead with an actual lawsuit against the insurance company.”
The tornado that hit the Dicksons' house also damaged homes near Sinnissippi Golf Course. It touched down one mile southeast of downtown Rockford and lifted up at the intersection of Riverside Boulevard and Mulford Road.
The Dicksons' case is due back in court on June 20. An Allstate employee told the Rockford Register Star that because of pending litigation, the company cannot comment on the matter.