Air Force claims center may reimburse for recent hail damage

  • Published
  • By Capt. Jeffrey Biller
  • 71st Flying Training Wing Legal Office
VANCE AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  The local Oklahoma weather is often severe. Occasionally, it is severe enough to do damage to personal property. Although the Air Force is not typically responsible for payment of repairs in these situations, there are occasions when a claim can be filed.

The Military Personnel and Civilian Employees Claims Act provides protection from extraordinary hazards such as violent acts of nature and other events. In order for the military to pay a claim on damage from a storm, it must be considered to be an unusual occurrence.

In many areas, at different times of the year, storms occur routinely 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, it may be considered an unusual occurrence.

The chief of the Air Force Claims Service Center is the final authority on determining whether the storm qualifies as an unusual occurrence. 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. This includes people residing in base housing but does not include those residing in privately owned off-base housing.

There are no provisions to pay claims for contractors or non-base-connected individuals. The Vance Legal Office can only process the claims of Air Force employees. Members of other branches of service must file with their respective legal office.

To file a claim with the AFCSC, individuals must first file claims for damage or loss with their private insurance companies. The MPCECA is secondary to all private insurance coverage for incidents such as the recent hail storm at Vance.

The Air Force claim process begins after a claimant receives the final insurance settlement letter from the private insurer. The claim can be filed online from a government computer at https://claims.jag.af.mil. General information about filing claims is also available at this site or by contacting the Vance Legal Office, 213-7404.

Those without access to a government computer can contact AFCSC at DSN 986-8044, or commercial 937-656-8044 and 877-754-1212, to obtain a username and password that is valid on any computer for 60 days.

If you have damage from a severe storm, the following tips will help when filing a claim:
  • Report the damage or loss to the 71st Security Forces Squadron on base.
  • Take photos of the damage and the cause if possible.
  • Report the damage to your private insurer and complete your insurance claim process. Then, if you still are not fully compensated for the loss, you can file a claim as described above.
  • Do not have the damages repaired prior to completing the Air Force claims process because an inspection may be required for your claim. However, if you must have the damages repaired contact AFCSC before doing so to determine if an inspection is required.