Hurricane Irma Claims Reach $5.5B
Nov. 06--The price tag for damage from Hurricane Irma in Florida continues to grow.
In the eight weeks since Irma rampaged through the state, the estimated insured losses from property owners now stands at $5.55 billion, according to an updated report Monday from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation.
But the number of filings and damage estimates are slowing.
The state agency said 809,306 owners of residential and commercial properties statewide had submitted claims to insurers as of the end of last week, an increase of 13,336 over the week. Total estimated losses actually decreased by $11 million, as more claims were closed without payment.
About 24,225 property owners in Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte counties have submitted claims for damages from Irma, OIR said. Nearly 60 percent have been closed, and 6,700 of them were not paid. That could be due to a number of reasons, such as claims for damage not covered by the policy, or deductibles that were higher than the damage.
Homeowners account for 66 percent of the claims statewide. Another 10 percent come from other residential properties, and 6 percent were filed by owners of manufactured homes.
Meanwhile, insurers are feeling the brunt of this year's stormy hurricane season.
American International Group posted a net loss of $1.7 billion in the third quarter, compared to last year's $462 million profit, after incurring $3.0 billion in catastrophe losses from Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria.
Liberty Mutual Insurance just reported a net loss of $665 million for the quarter ended Sept. 30, down from a profit of $455 million one year earlier. The company said the loss was driven by the impact of those three storms, which totaled $1.2 billion.
And the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, which provides backing to private insurers, may have to pay up to $5.1 billion in claims from Irma. The Cat Fund has the cash to do so, so it will not have to borrow any money.
In Sarasota, 9,988 property owners had filed claims in the latest OIR report. Some 2,736 have been paid and 2,941 were closed but not paid.
Manatee reported 7,645 claims, with 2,443 paid and 2,017 closed without payment.
A total of 6,594 claims came from Charlotte, with 1,903 paid and 1,721 closed with no payment.
Those three counties account for about 3 percent of the total Florida damage claims filed with insurers, the agency said.
Miami-Dade reported the most claims, followed by Broward, Orange, Lee and Collier counties.
___
(c)2017 Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Fla.
Visit Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Fla. at www.heraldtribune.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
To fight opioid crisis, Florida’s largest insurer stops covering OxyContin
Missouri now offering workers health insurance without birth control coverage
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News