Earthquake: The Long Road Back : Claims Inspectors Try to Reassure Anxious Homeowners : Insurance: Although many firms’ offices were closed by the quake, a small army of adjusters examine damage and offer policyholders hope and advice.

The stucco skin of Joanne Foley’s Woodland Hills home looked like the shell of a hard-boiled egg that had been tapped with a spoon.

As Allstate Insurance claims adjuster Dale Weimer walked around the property at noontime Tuesday, Foley pointed out balky doors and a horizontal crack that bisected the first and second floors for more than half the circumference of the house.

“The whole house is tweaked,” Foley said.

Weimer jotted notes and murmured reassurance. Inside the hillside home, he surveyed the piles of smashed glassware and plaster, a fissure two fingers wide that separated the rustic fireplace from the wall, the cracks that spread out like spider webs from every doorjamb and wall joint.

The scene was re-enacted hundreds of times throughout the San Fernando Valley and other parts of Los Angeles as insurance companies contacted policyholders and began the work of documenting the destruction.

Their task was made more difficult by power outages, spotty telephone communications, damage to many insurance company offices and the frequent aftershocks that made it impossible to enter many homes and commercial buildings to catalogue the damage.

At Allstate’s regional office in Woodland Hills, falling ceiling panels and structural cracks had rendered the building unusable.

20th Century Insurance Co.’s 11-story headquarters in Woodland Hills was closed. State Farm Insurance shut down regional claims offices in Woodland Hills, Northridge, Mission Hills and Santa Monica. Farmers Insurance Group’s Los Angeles regional office in Simi Valley was badly damaged and unusable. Safeco had to close its Van Nuys office. Many other carriers faced similar problems.

Allstate, like some of its rivals, improvised by parking a large mobile home outside its Woodland Hills office. Card tables and folding chairs were set up on the cracked pavement for employees to collect preliminary claims information from policyholders.

Other loss reports were fielded over emergency toll-free lines that Allstate and other insurers have established.

The reports were passed on to a small army of claims adjusters such as Weimer, who visited homes and attempted to keep in touch via mobile phone. Even that proved difficult, however, as cellular phone traffic was heavy enough to jam the airwaves.

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Weimer’s visit to Foley’s home was a preliminary sortie and something of a hand-holding session. He wanted to get a quick firsthand look, answer Foley’s questions and write her a check to cover initial living expenses while she is away from the home where she has lived for 30 years.

“My heart and soul is in this house,” said Foley, who was anxious that the house would be condemned.

Weimer told her that as bad as the damage looked, it appeared to be mainly broken plaster without severe structural damage. He said they would know for sure when a full-fledged inspection followed in a few days. After that, Allstate will estimate the repair costs and offer a settlement.

Weimer told Foley that she should keep receipts and take note of any unusual expenses, such as additional mileage driven, utility hookup fees, and the cost of securing the home while it is empty.

“Keep a paper and pen handy and keep jotting down things as you think of them,” he said.

Like most earthquake insurance policies, Foley’s carries a 10% deductible, which means the destruction could end up costing her $16,000.

“I was thinking of retiring in a couple of years,” said Foley, who teaches fifth and sixth grade at the Parkview Center School in Simi Valley. “Now I won’t be able to.”

Weimer shook hands with Foley in her driveway and offered some final words of support. Just then, a motorist called out from her car, “Any sign of the insurance people?”

The woman hurriedly spilled out a tale of a sick baby at her quake-damaged home and her difficulty reaching Allstate. Weimer jumped into his pickup truck and followed the woman to her house.