Majority Of Florida Hurricane Claims Now Closed
NU Online News Service, Jan. 7, 3:02 p.m. EST?Insurers in Florida have closed nearly 86 percent of the claims resulting from the four hurricanes that hit the state last year, the Hurricane Insurance Information Center and the Florida Insurance Council said.[@@]
According to claims data from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, as of Dec. 30, 2004, more than 1.3 million claims have been processed out of more than 1.5 million claims that have been filed.
The insurance regulation office listed percentages of closed claims by storm and date of landfall: Hurricane Charley (August 13), 89.9 percent; Hurricane Frances (September 3), 84.7 percent; Hurricane Ivan (September 13), 84.2 percent; Hurricane Jeanne (September 24) 83.2 percent.
The OIR said insurers are still receiving about 8,000 new claims a week, even though the last of the storms struck Florida on Sep. 24.
"Insurers are working as hard as they can to get checks into the hands of all their customers so they can rebuild their homes, businesses and communities," observed William Bailey, director of the Hurricane Insurance Information Center.
Mr. Bailey also said there has been an increasing use of electronic processing to manage claim filing and settlements.
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