Katrina caused widespread damage to homes
and businesses in six states —
Policyholders in the affected states are
expected to file more than 1.6 million claims for damage to personal and
commercial property, automobiles, and boats and yachts.
At an inflation-adjusted $20.8 billion,
Hurricane Andrew in 1992 was the costliest catastrophe in the
Below is the breakdown of insured property
damage and claims count:
State Losses
($) Number of Claims Louisiana 22.6 billion 900,000 9.8 billion 490,000 1.3 billion 123,000 468 million 110,000 Tennessee 46.1 million 8,400 Georgia 22.2 million 3,300
The personal property loss claims include
nearly 75,000 boats and yachts in the affected states, with an estimated
insured value of slightly under $2 billion.
Insurers are still assessing individual
losses and analysing various scenarios that will affect ultimate claim
payments, according to PCS. Handling claims from this wide-ranging devastating
event has been difficult for several reasons, including limited access to
damaged areas, difficulty in tracking down property owners who evacuated to
other locations and breakdown of the communication infrastructure.
PCS will resurvey insurers in 60 days as
more claims are filed and existing claims are closed. PCS resurveys are
standard procedure for all catastrophes that exceed $250 million in insured
losses or whenever specific circumstances require additional analysis.
ISO’s PCS unit defines a catastrophe as an
event that causes $25 million or more in insured property losses and affects a
significant number of policyholders and insurers.
PCS estimates represent anticipated insured
loss on an industrywide basis arising from catastrophes, reflecting the total
insurance payment for personal and commercial property lines of insurance
covering fixed property, personal property, vehicles, boats, related property
items, business interruption and additional living expenses. Not included in
the PCS estimate are losses to utilities, agriculture, aircraft, ocean marine
(including oil drilling platforms) and property insured under the federal flood
insurance programme. The estimates exclude loss adjustment expenses.
About ISO
ISO is a leading provider of products and
services that help measure, manage and reduce risk. ISO provides data,
analytics and decision-support solutions to professionals in many fields,
including insurance, finance, real estate, health services, government and
human resources. Clients use ISO’s databases and services to classify and
evaluate a variety of risks and detect potential fraud. In the
EDITOR’S NOTE: Be sure to visit our
interactive website at www.iso.com.
For more information please contact:
Manuela Whittaker,
IBA – PR for ISO
Tel: 01780 721433
mwhittaker@iba-europe.com
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