Insurance Claims Being Tallied for Four Hurricanes

Roofers and raw materials are scarce. Owners of storm-ravaged homes and businesses are grumbling about delays. And the combined number of insurance claims from Hurricanes Charley, Frances and Ivan is expected to overtake the granddaddy of all storms, Hurricane Andrew. And damage estimates from Hurricane Jeanne are just being tallied up as the morning sun highlights what was a rough couple of nights after Jeanne hit the east coast of Florida on Saturday night and then speedily churned her way across Florida, taking the same path over several central Florida communities and up the west coast.

Leaders in Florida’s insurance industry were left practically speechless at the prospect that Hurricane Jeanne, once thought to be a problem for the Carolinas if anywhere, has retraced some of the brutal steps of Frances.

“What can I tell you?” said Sam Miller of the Florida Insurance Council. “We are doing the best job we possibly can. We’ve never been faced with anything like this before.”

At least there’s no need to worry about mobilizing the Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee again; the EOC has never been deactivated from Ivan or Frances before that. “I’m going back out to the EOC; I practically live there now,” Miller said.

The one promise Miller made: that Florida’s insurers are still financially sound and able to handle the infliction of another major hurricane. That confidence is borne in part because property owners are picking up a greater percentage of repair costs than ever before due to hurricane deductibles of 2 percent to 5 percent.

The impact on the state’s hurricane catastrophe fund also has been limited so far. The CAT Fund, which has the capacity to pay up to $15 billion, expects to pay out $1.4 billion for Charley and about $100 million for Frances to help insurers cover claims.

Citizens Property Insurance, the state-run agency that insures property owners who cannot find coverage in the open market, is expected to pay out $925 million in Charley losses and up to $375 million in Frances losses. If losses from Ivan or another storm are excessive, it may have to assess property owners statewide to help pay for it.

Topics Florida Catastrophe Natural Disasters Claims Hurricane