Four Hurricanes Spur 2 Million Claims

By Steve Tuckey

NU Online News Service, Oct. 4, 4:28 p.m. EDT?Industry experts now expect carriers will pay more than two million claims stemming from the four hurricanes that struck Florida and surrounding states this year.

"The number of claims insurance companies are paying is now equivalent to the entire population of the Tampa-St. Petersburg metropolitan area," said William Bailey, director of the Hurricane Insurance Information Center in Punta Gorda, Fla.

The Insurance Information Institute estimates that insurance claims payments from the four storms combined will total up to between $22 billion and $23 billion, surpassing the $15.5 billion record set by Hurricane Andrew in 1992 ? the equivalent of $20 billion.

It is estimated that 15,000 insurance company claims adjusters from across the U.S. and Canada are covering 30,000 square miles in Florida assessing damages and handling claims.

A further sign of the strain the storms are putting on the industry came today when A.M. Best placed the financial strength rating of Nationwide Insurance Company of Florida under review with negative implications.

The action means that the three Florida subsidiaries of the states' top private sector homeowners' writers have raised such rating agency concerns.

Allstate's Florida subsidiary has already been downgraded to a B-plus rating from an A-minus, while State Farm's company remains under review.

"The Florida companies were established in the wake of Hurricane Andrew as a way to manage that risk and allocate capital to that risk," said Rich Attanasio. "And to some extent it helps with regard to pricing, particularly from a regulatory standpoint."

Mr. Attanasio said in all three cases there was a need for additional support.

"And whatever that form takes, those are the issues we will have to discuss with those companies," he said.

Standard & Poor's analyst Thomas Upton said he expects more of the large property casualty writers who have not done so to set up Florida subsidiaries in the aftermath of the '04 hurricane season.

In related news, Greenwich, Conn.-based insurer, W.R. Berkley announced today that third quarter losses from the four Florida hurricanes will total $20 million, or $.23 per share. The company said these estimated losses were primarily the result of its participation in syndicates at Lloyd's.

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Four Hurricanes Spur 2 Million Claims

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