Hurricane Irma Claims Top $6B Mark In Florida

Dec. 04--Claims for damage caused by Hurricane Irma in Florida have blown past the $6 billion mark.

More than 853,000 property owners have filed claims for insured losses from Irma, which smashed through Florida on Sept. 10, according to a report Monday from the state Office of Insurance Regulation.

They include 25,446 holders of residential and commercial properties in Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte counties who had submitted claims to insurers as of the end of last week, OIR said.

More than 75 percent of the local claims have been closed, and 9,120 of them were not paid. That could be due to a number of reasons, such as claims for damage not covered by the policy, deductibles that were higher than the damage, or fraudulent claims.

Losses statewide are estimated at $6.29 billion. That represents a $740 million increase from OIR's report four weeks ago.

Homeowners account for two-thirds of the claims, OIR said. Another 11 percent come from other residential dwellings, and 6 percent were filed by mobile homeowners.

Analysts have estimated from $25 billion to $65 billion in total U.S. damage from Irma.

The Florida claims do not include flood damage, which is not covered by homeowners' insurance. One analyst projected flood losses could hit $38 billion, and up to 80 percent of damaged homes may not have flood coverage.

In Sarasota, 10,525 property owners had filed claims in the latest OIR report. Some 4,005 have been paid and 3,925 were closed but not paid.

Manatee reported 7,945 claims, with 3,561 paid and 2,702 closed without payment.

A total of 6,976 claims came from Charlotte, with 2,864 paid and 2,500 closed with no payment.

Those three counties account for 3 percent of the total Florida damage claims filed with insurers, regulators said.

Miami-Dade reported the most claims, followed by Broward, Orange, Lee and Collier counties.

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