Keys property owners file more than 9,000 windstorm claims

Dec. 02--Florida Keys homeowners have filed nearly 15 percent of the statewide Hurricane Irma windstorm claims filed with Citizens Property Insurance Corp., a state-backed agency.

"Irma, which hit the Florida Keys on Sept. 10 as a Category 4 hurricane, is expected to produce up to 70,000 claims [statewide] and $1.2 billion in damages to Citizens policyholders," the insurer of last resort reported Wednesday.

As of Wednesday, Keys clients had filed 9,063 claims for windstorm coverage, part of the 62,412 in wind-damage claims throughout Florida.

"With $6.4 billion in surplus and substantial reinsurance coverage, Citizens remains fiscally sound after responding quickly and effectively to Hurricane Irma," Chris Gardner, Citizens' board chairman, said in a statement.

Miami-Dade County policyholders filed 24,019 claims with Citizens and Broward County reported 9,341.

About two-thirds of the statewide claims have been settled or closed, but the corporation says policyholders can file updated claims if additional home damages are discovered during repairs. Some claims were not paid since damage estimates fell below the deductible on the policies.

Citizens is a windstorm-only agency; it does not cover damage from flooding.

The National Flood Insurance Program, run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, so far has paid out more than $60 million in about 7,000 claims on Monroe County property, a FEMA official said Friday. That dollar amount is expected to increase as more claims are filed and settled.

Statewide, Irma caused "nearly $6 billion in damage ... the first major storm to ravage the state in more than 12 years," Citizens reported. "Industrywide, as of Nov. 13, the storm had produced 830,788 claims and more than $5.8 billion in property damage," according the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation.

Citizens Insurance, created by the state to provide wind-damage coverage when many private insurance companies stopped offering policies in vulnerable coastal areas, now is the primary wind-damage insurer in Monroe County.

At one point, Citizens issued about 1.5 million Florida policies but those numbers have decreased to fewer than 450,000 statewide through an aggressive policy to transfer policies to privately run insurers, the New Service of Florida reported.

Kevin Wadlow: 305-440-3206

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