Claims News Service, Dec. 21, 1:46 p.m. EST — The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) has released its annual “Top Ten” list of insurance-related stories.

1) Katrina, Rita and Wilma: A Devastating Trio – Weather forecasters predicted that the 2005 hurricane season could be more active than normal, but no one thought it would produce 26 named storms and the most destructive storm on record – Hurricane Katrina. It is estimated that over 1.8 million claims will be filed, resulting in a payout of nearly $50 billion to policyholders. The storms have sparked a renewed debate over how we, as a nation, better prepare for, respond to, and recover from natural disasters. The response of insurers and the flow of claims payments to storm victims demonstrated the incredible value of insurance products to individuals, communities and the economic health of individual states and the nation as a whole.

2) Wind Versus Flood – Hurricane Katrina also triggered a brewing legal debate over this distinction between wind and flood claims and the validity of insurance contracts. The Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood has filed a lawsuit that attempts to force insurers to cover losses caused by flooding – a specifically excluded peril in most insurance policies – under the homeowners insurance contract. If successful, the suit could undermine the viability of insurance contracts – and potentially all contracts – in the state, paralyze the insurance market, and jeopardize the rebuilding effort. Insurers have vowed to fight the lawsuit in the courts and point to numerous cases where the flood exclusion has been upheld. While Mr. Hood and other opportunistic attorneys are making a splash in the national media, most major newspapers along the Gulf Coast have criticized these lawsuits as frivolous and without merit.