Universal reports $350 million to $450 million in Hurricane Irma insurance claims

Oct. 12--FORT LAUDERDALE -- Fort Lauderdale-based Universal Insurance Holdings said it expects to pay out between $350 million to $450 million in claims from Hurricane Irma.

The company, parent of Universal Property & Casualty, Florida's largest insurer, said in a news release that it has had about 50,000 claims related to Irma from Florida and other affected states in the Southeast.

More than 90 percent of reported claims have been inspected, and nearly 50 percent have been closed, the company said.

Universal Property & Casualty had 595,553 residential and commercial policies in Florida at the end of June, according to data compiled by state insurance regulators. Of those, 237,172 were in the tri-county region.

Universal Insurance Holdings also operates American Platinum Property and Casualty, which expects to pay out $1 million to $2 million.

The company's reinsurance coverage will cover all but about $35 million of its Irma-related losses, the release said, adding it retains its full reinsurance coverage of $2.65 billion available for any future events.

No financial impact to the company's third quarter results is expected from either Hurricane Harvey, which primarily affected Texas and Louisiana, or from Hurricane Maria, which struck the Caribbean and Puerto Rico, because Universal covers no properties in those areas, the release said.

Little or no losses are expected from Hurricane Nate, which made landfall on Oct. 7 and affected the Florida Panhandle, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.

Statewide, insurance carriers received 703,669 Irma-related claims through Oct. 6, the most recent date the state Office of Insurance Regulation posted updated claims totals.

Of those, 24.6 percent have been closed, including 103,994 that were paid and 69,432 closed with no payment. That left 530,243 claims still open on Oct. 6.

Insured value of losses reported through Oct. 6 was estimated at $4.6 billion.

The state is updating its tally of Irma claims every Friday.

State-run Citizens Property Insurance Co., the tri-county region's second largest insurer, has estimated it will receive about 70,000 Irma claims and pay out $1.23 billion within 18 to 24 months.

So far about two-thirds of those claims have come from the tri-county region, where more than half of the properties covered by Citizens are located.

rhurtibise@sun-sentinel.com, 954-356-4071, twitter: twitter.com/ronhurtibise

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