Ten Things to Know about High Risk Property

1. Winter storms caused $2 billion in insured losses in 2013, up dramatically from $38 million in 2012, according to reports from Munich Re. From 1993 to 2012, winter storms resulted in about $28 billion in insured catastrophe losses (in 2012 dollars), or $1.4 billion per year on average. (Property Claim Services (PCS), a division of Verisk Analytics)
2. Floods are the most common natural disaster in the United States. From 2003 to 2012, total flood insurance claims averaged nearly $4 billion per year. In high-risk areas, there is at least a 1 in 4 chance of flooding during a 30-year mortgage. (www.FloodSmart.gov)
3. Oklahoma is second only to Texas as the site of insured claims payouts resulting from tornado/thunderstorm/hail catastrophes for 2000-2013, with Oklahoma cumulatively generating $9.8 billion, and Texas a total of $16.9 billion in the same period. Since 2000, insurers have paid $135 billion on millions of claims in all 50 states from severe convective events including tornadoes. (Insurance Information Institute)
4. Total U.S. natural disaster-caused insurance claims payouts came to $12.79 billion in 2013, with $10.27 billion of that figure attributable to tornadoes and severe thunderstorms. The balance was due to events such as winter storms and wildfires. (Insurance Information Institute)
5. States leading the way in the “very high” category for total potential exposure to wildfire damage are Colorado ($15.2 billion) and California ($13 billion). Those states were followed by Texas ($6.3 billion), Oregon ($1.7 billion), Arizona ($1.2 million) and New Mexico ($1.18 billion). California had $65.46 billion worth of properties in the “high” category, followed by Texas with $46 billion, Colorado with $14.1 billion and Oregon with $8.4 billion. (2013 CoreLogic Wildfire Hazard Risk Report)
6. There are more than 1.2 million residential properties in the Western United States that are located in “high” or “very high” wildfire-risk categories valued at more than $189 billion. In the “very high” risk category there are roughly 268,000 residences valued at more than $41 billion. (2013 CoreLogic Wildfire Hazard Risk Report)
7. From 2008 to 2012, the average flood claim amounted to nearly $42,000. In 2012, the average flood insurance policy premium was about $650 per year. People outside of mapped high-risk flood areas file nearly 25 percent of all National Flood Insurance Program flood insurance claims. (National Flood Insurance Program)
8. The estimated insured value of residential and commercial properties in the coastal counties of the U.S. East and Gulf Coast states now exceeds $10 trillion. The estimated value of these properties in the coastal counties of Florida and New York alone totals nearly $3 trillion in each state. (AIR Worldwide)
9. Over the past five years, the insured value of properties in coastal states increased at a compound annual growth rate of near 4 percent. New York edges out Florida as the state with the highest estimated property replacement values, at $2.9 trillion. (AIR Worldwide, “The Coastline at Risk”)
10. After the 1994 Northridge earthquake, half the residential loss — $10 billion of $20 billion — was covered by insurance. If the earthquake occurred today, less than a quarter of residential loss would be insured — $6 billion of $26 billion. (California Earthquake Authority)

Topics Catastrophe USA California Texas Wildfire Flood Property Numbers