Missouri Insurer Recovers After Joplin Tornado Claims

An insurance company that nearly went under after the Joplin, Mo., tornado is back in better financial condition.

Missouri’s insurance department says a judge has granted its request to release Barton County Mutual Insurance Co. from department control. The company was placed in rehabilitation in December 2011 when it was on the brink of insolvency because of claims from the deadly tornado that hit Joplin earlier that year.

Barton Mutual had premiums of $32 million in 2011 but reported claims of $48 million related to the Joplin tornado.

The insurance company has about 29,000 policyholders. The department says Barton Mutual is the largest employer in the western Missouri town of Liberal.