Hurricane Wilma==which by some estimates may have inflicted a$12 billion insured loss==will put financial pressure on insurersand reinsurers but not enough to badly damage carriers' credit,according to Moody's Investors Service.

In a new report, the New York-based rating firm said thatinsurers are much better prepared for Florida catastrophes thanother states, noting that carriers with business there have reducedexposure through exclusions, restrictions and increaseddeductibles.

In its report=="Hurricane Wilma: A Fast Moving Storm WithSignificant Impact to the Property & Casualty InsuranceIndustry"==Moody's also mentioned there is significant reinsurancecapacity through the state-run Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fundthat backstops property insurers.

Damage severity is also lessened by tougher building codespromulgated after the 1992 Hurricane Andrew catastrophe.

"Moody's does not expect to take widespread rating actions, butthe likelihood of individual rating actions has increased given thecontinuing event frequency and the attendant upward revisions ofinsured losses from prior storms," said a senior analyst, PanoKarambelas.

The report observed that a number of property-casualty companieshave already recapitalized following losses from Hurricanes Katrinaand Rita, in order to replace lost capital and to ensure that theyhave sufficient capital to write additional business as pricingimproves.

However, Mr. Karambelas wrote that "receptivity for anyadditional capital raises from companies that have alreadyrecapitalized following the losses of earlier storms may haveweakened."

Moody's report noted that a meaningful portion of the losseswould be sustained by Citizens Property Insurance Corp., thestate-created insurer of last resort.

The firm said that because of the continuing damage assessmentremaining from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, "adjusting resourcesare close to capacity."

According to the report, coverage disputes related to the twoearlier hurricanes are likely to result in delays on Wilmaclaims.

The combined result of this season's four hurricanes is thatreinsurance and retrocessional pricing for property-catastropheinsurance will rise more sharply than primary pricing.

Moody's said it believes reinsurers are reevaluating theirexposures, which will likely cause a shortage of retro capacity,and cause insurers and reinsurers to consider additional optionssuch as catastrophe bonds, joint ventures and collateralizedproducts from hedge funds.

"As companies make announcements of their estimated losses overthe coming weeks, Moody's will evaluate the impact, if any, of thehurricane losses in the context of the earnings capacity andcapitalization for each insurance company" Mr. Karambelas said.

Despite the extraordinarily destructive effects of the lastthree hurricanes, Moody's said it believes that the credit strengthof the p-c industry generally remains good.