Nearly one year after Hurricane Charley came ashore on the southwest coast of Florida, thousands of people are still out of their homes. In addition to the inconveniences that they face everyday, displaced hurricane victims also incur extra expenses.

At more than $15.5 billion, 1992's Andrew still holds the record for the single most costly hurricane for insurers. The combined insured losses from last year's four hurricanes have now reached $22.8 billion. A large part of that figure can be itemized under the heading of additional living expenses.

At the beginning of May, the Office of Insurance Regulation reported that 186 insurers had a total of 57,830 claims still open. Although the figure seems high, it is a small percentage of the nearly 1.7 million insurance claims that resulted from damages in 54 of Florida's 67 counties, according to the OIR.