Billy and Lucy Hursh had no desire to become the named plaintiffs in a landmark case. They just wanted their roof fixed. After a hail storm left the roof of their Tulsa, Okla. area home in such bad shape that Billy says he could see gouges in the shingles from the ground, the couple got two contractors on the case and were told a complete replacement was necessary. The first sign of trouble was the grimace on one contractor's face when he heard who the couple’s homeowner’s policy was with. “They were ver ...

When hail hits Oklahoma, Jonathan Spyres knows what comes next. The owner of IT RoofTech in Tulsa says his crews can spot storm damage easily with high-tech equipment — but lately, getting insurers to pay for repairs has become the real battle. And one company, he says, stands out for the wrong reasons: State Farm, the country’s largest homeowners’ insurer. The case that pushed him over the edge was a 90-year-old State Farm customer who had been with the insurer for more than 60 years. When a storm rippe ...