NU Online News Service, May 12, 11:06 a.m. EST
About two weeks into May the toll on insurers from severe April weather is beginning to come to light.
Allstate Corp. says it has received more than 100,000 claims and estimates April losses for its Allstate and Encompass brands at about $1.4 billion.
Allstate says it recorded 13 separate events in April, with the largest losses coming from Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, and Virginia.
Catastrophe risk modelers AIR Worldwide and EQECAT have predicted losses for the insurance industry of between $2 billion and $5.5 billion from a severe weather outbreak April 22-28 of tornadoes, high winds, and hail.
Earlier in the month a violent weather system that included hundreds of tornadoes affected multiple states from Oklahoma to North Carolina.
In the meantime, regional insurer National Security Group Inc. says it expects insured losses to top $6.8 million. More than 1,100 claims have been filed.
The Elba, Ala.-based insurer the spring storm season was the "most severe" in company history and it expects second quarter net income to take a $4.2 million hit.
National Security says it has never incurred losses of more than $1 million from a single spring storm system. More than 1,600 policyholders were impacted in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Tennessee.
Nearly 30 percent of National Security's direct premiums are from Alabama, which was hit significantly by a very strong tornado in Tuscaloosa County. The company's top five states account for 77 percent of its total direct premiums, according to Highline Data. Each of these states was affected by the April storms.
Highline Data is a part of Summit Business Media, which also owns National Underwriter.
In reporting first-quarter earnings, other companies say they will feel the impact of April's weather. Nationwide says its operating income will be "challenged" by claims from the storms. Liberty Mutual says tornado and storm activity in April is expected to cause $350 million to $450 million in catastrophe losses.
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