Insurance premiums have “shot through the roof” in Oklahoma, particularly over the past two years, due to storm and hail damage claims being so prevalent.

That was part of Justin Stephenson’s message to Kingfisher Rotary Club last week.

Stephenson is part owner of Stephenson Insurance Center, which has offices in Kingfisher and Woodward.

Stephenson said several major insurance providers have threatened to stop covering Oklahoma for residential and commercial structures due to the high percentage of claims paid out over that time.

A large number of longtime insurance business owners across the state have closed their businesses due to premiums to customers having gone up so dramatically, he added.

It’s “not a fun time to be in the insurance business” across the state, but added that such times are cyclical and he was in the business long term, so he expected premium costs to go down in the “not too distant” future.

He said it was not just one insurance carrier that raised premium costs to cover the unusual amount of claim pay-outs incurred over the past two years, but most, if not all companies, that Oklahoma insurance agents represent.

Stephenson, who moved to Kingfisher with his family several years ago from Woodward, said he has 20 employees at his two locations and said he is currently involved in mergers and acquisitions across the state due to the recent volatility in the industry.

Stephenson is a Certified Public Accountant and said he enjoyed the “numbers” part of the business and because of that, he leaves the sales part of the business to others within his companies.

He said he has found Kingfisher to be a wonderful community in which to raise his children and that he and his wife, Tracy, a sixth grade social studies teacher at Kingfisher Upper Elementary, have enjoyed their time here.

The couple have four children. Their oldest son, Cade, is currently a redshirt sophomore linebacker at Emporia State University in Kansas.

Their daughter, Ally, attends the University of Oklahoma on a track and field scholarship.

Their son, Carter, is a sophomore at Kingfisher High School and their youngest son, Crew, is in grade school here.

Also present at the meeting was Rotary 5750 District Governor Jack Werner of Oklahoma City, who made a surprise visit to the club.

Werner was invited to speak a few minutes about Rotary International and he said clubs such as Rotary were still vital to the life of communities and nations.

He said communities with service club participation by its citizens developed a “can do” spirit that allowed for growth and prosperity, as compared to communities without service clubs.

He noted that with the rise of electronic communication that the world needed more “in-person and faceto- face interaction” because humans needed that connection to prosper.

Both speakers were introduced by club vice president Brian Walter, who presided over the meeting.