Only six catastrophes were reported in 2007's second quarter (April-June), making it one of the lowest totals in the last 10 years.

As reported by the Insurance Services Office's Property Claim Services (PCS) unit, U.S. property/casualty insurers are expected to pay homeowners and businesses an estimated $2.18 billion for second-quarter property losses resulting from the six catastrophes that affected 25 states. This total ties the record for the second-lowest number of catastrophes in a second quarter in the past 10 years, according to preliminary analysis by PCS.

At $435 million, Texas topped the list of the five most severely affected states, followed by Minnesota at $322 million, Kansas at $210 million, New Jersey at $160 million, and New York at $130 million, PCS reported. The costliest event of the quarter — caused by strong winds, large hail, tornadoes, and flooding — occurred in mid-April and affected 18 states and the District of Columbia. The current PCS estimate of insured property damage for this event is $1.23 billion.

PCS estimates the six catastrophes of second-quarter 2007 generated 504,000 claims. Year to date, the estimated number of claims is 709,000. Following is a summary of second-quarter losses and frequency since 1998:

YEAR INSURED LOSS ($) FREQUENCY

1998 4.52 billion 16

1999 3.50 billion 13

2000 1.46 billion 10

2001 6.24 billion 9

2002 2.79 billion 10

2003 5.05 billion 4

2004 2.33 billion 6

2005 930 million 4

2006 5.04 billion 13

2007 2.18 billion 6

ISO's PCS unit defines a catastrophe as an event that causes $25 million or more in insured property losses and affects a significant number of policyholders and insurers.

More information is available at www.iso.com.

Interested in more catastrophe news and in-depth articles? Head over to Claims' catastrophe channel for more information.

Special Reports /

Second-Quarter Catastrophe Total Is Second Lowest

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