ISO Puts Charley Loss At $6.8 Billion
By Steve Tuckey
NU Online News Service, Aug. 25, 2:44 p.m. EDT?U.S. personal and commercial lines insurers will pay out $6.8 billion to compensate for losses incurred by Hurricane Charley, according to Property Claims Services.[@@]
The killer storm that left 25 dead ripped though Florida's midsection Aug. 13 with winds of up to 145 mph and moved northward to strike the Carolinas. The Insurance Information Institute in New York had projected damages of $7.4 billion, while other modelers set figures in the range of $6 billion to $10 billion.
Figures from PCS, a unit of Jersey City, N.J.-based Insurance Services Office, are the first from actual claims, rather than computer projections. Officials will resurvey insurers in 60 days as more claims are filed and existing claims are amended.
Charley is the second costliest hurricane in history, after Hurricane Andrew in 1992, which hit South Florida causing about $20.3 billion in damages in inflation-adjusted dollars.
Florida accounts for about 605,000 of the nearly 622,000 Hurricane Charley claims that are expected to be filed.
PCS put the insured property losses in Florida at $6.755 billion, with losses of $25 million in North Carolina and $20 million in South Carolina.
Meanwhile, the state continues to tighten rate and form regulations in the aftermath of the storm.
The state's insurance regulator, the Financial Services Commission, issued a new rule on Tuesday prohibiting insurers from canceling or non-renewing policyholders through Oct. 15 in the 12 counties affected by the storms.
In addition, companies must now receive prior approval of all personal lines rates effective on or after the effective date of the rule.
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