State Farm storm claims hit nearly 300,000

State Farm, the nation’s largest home insurer, said it had paid $916 million in claims from storms this quarter, including the tornado that struck Joplin.

The insurer said it received almost 300,000 disaster claims from home, auto and business clients in April and May. The cost will rise as the company handles claims from Texas to the East Coast, the company said.

State Farm and No. 2 Allstate are among the insurers coping with costs from natural disasters this quarter. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported that 1,314 tornadoes had been reported in the U.S. through May 24, compared with 1,282 in all of 2010. A tornado that tore through Joplin on Sunday killed more than 130 people, making it the single deadliest U.S. storm in at least 60 years.

“The country has been hit hard with an unprecedented succession of horrible weather and horrific losses,” Brian Boyden, State Farm executive vice president, said in a statement. “From the claims volume and types and extent of damage, you can easily characterize these storms as a ‘spring hurricane.’ ”

State Farm, which is also licensed in Kansas, says it averages about 800,000 catastrophe claims a year and pays out about $3.8 billion.

Heavier claims can translate into losses for the company. State Farm says it lost $542 million in 2008. More than 1 million claims that year cost the company $6.3 billion.

Allstate said catastrophes, including tornadoes in Alabama, cost the company $1.4 billion in April. The company’s announcement was before the Joplin storms.