Claims News Service, Oct. 5, 10:20 a.m. EDT -- Fireman's FundInsurance Company will treat homeowners' property damage fromHurricanes Katrina and Rita as one event for purposes ofcalculating the amount of hurricane deductible on losses. As aresult, Fireman's Fund homeowner policyholders who suffered damagefrom both storms will not need to worry about having multipledeductibles applied to their claims settlements.

"The one-two punch of Katrina and Rita is similar to the uniquesix-week wave of hurricanes that struck Florida last year,providing little or no time between storms to participate in thetraditional process of claim adjustment, property repair,protection against the elements and rebuilding," said ChuckKavitsky, president and CEO of Fireman's Fund. "Although ourhomeowners policies in these areas clearly allow separatedeductibles, we want to simplify the deductible issue forhomeowners.

Fireman's Fund, which was founded in 1863 with a social missionto give a portion of its profits to support firefighters, pioneeredthe writing of windstorm insurance in the 1880s. Fireman's Fund isa member of the Allianz Group, one of the world's largest providersof property and casualty insurance and other financialservices.