Hurricane Isaias claims keep climbing

Total estimated insured losses from Hurricane Isaias had climbed to more than $735.5 million as of Friday, according to data posted by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation.

The total number of claims filed with insurance companies following the Category 2 hurricane's landfall in Destin grew to 68,071. OIR data indicate 58.2 percent of the claims have been closed.

More than 81 percent of the total claims are for residential property coverage.

Private passenger automobile damage accounted for 7,825 claims, making it the second-largest claim category behind residential property. There were 163 claims for commercial auto losses.

Of the 68,071 claims filed with insurance companies following Hurricane Isaias, 25,211 were closed with some form of payment. The OIR data do not include an average payment amount or details about payments made.

Another 14,402 claims have been closed with no payment.

Many of the claims closed without payment – 6,835 – involved instances in which the amount of insured damage claimed was less than the required deductible. Those accounted for the largest number of claims closed without payment.

That was followed by 5,374 claims closed for administrative reasons. This broad category includes duplicate claims or those opened in error, claims with incorrect dates of loss, claims in which the policyholder did not communicate with the insurance company, and claims withdrawn by the policyholder or filed only as inquiries.

The OIR data show three claims were closed without payment because of suspected fraud. All three involved private passenger automobile policies.

Another 20,482 Isaias-related claims remain open with no payment made to the policyholder.

The OIR website lists several common reasons claims can be closed without payment, including instances in which the total damage reported does not exceed the policy deductible and claims involving flood damage that falls outside standard homeowners insurance coverage.

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