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Hurricane Irma insurance claims top 1 million |
Article Courtesy of The Sun Sentinel
By Jim
Turner
Published
November 27, 2018
With more than 1 million claims filed,
estimates of insured losses in Florida from last year’s Hurricane Irma
have surpassed $11.08 billion, according to the state Office of
Insurance Regulation.
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Even as claims have slowed more
than a year after the massive and deadly September 2017
storm, insurers recorded an additional $600 million in
estimated losses through more than 5,500 new claims over the
past three months.
Across the state, the top counties for damage claims were
Miami-Dade with 128,661, Collier with 95,273, Broward with
84,042, Lee with 84,032 and Orange with 75,003.
In all, 1,002,821 claims had been filed from Irma. The
numbers posted Thursday might be the final update from the
office, which said future data calls “may” be announced for
the storm that has drawn claims from all 67 counties.
The state agency doesn’t release data by individual
insurance companies, asserting protection of trade secrets.
The numbers also don’t include most agriculture losses,
which the state has estimated at $2.5 billion, or damage
inflicted by the storm on government facilities, including
buildings, roads, parks and beaches.
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Across the state, the top counties for damage claims
for Hurricane Irma, which struck the state in September 2017, were
Miami-Dade with 128,661, Collier with 95,273, Broward with 84,042,
Lee with 84,032 and Orange with 75,003.
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One company that publicly posts numbers,
state-backed Citizens Property Insurance, has reported $1.81 billion in
losses from Hurricane Irma through an estimated 70,800 claims.
By comparison, Hurricane Michael, which hit the Panhandle a little more
than a month ago, had produced 3,189 claims as of Wednesday by Citizens’
policy holders, which the company estimated will result in $142 million
in paid losses and expenses.
Overall, Michael had drawn 119,160 claims worth an estimated $2.94
billion in insured losses as of last Friday, according to the Office of
Insurance Regulation.
Among the Irma filings, insurance companies had closed 93 percent of all
residential claims and 76 percent of commercial-property claims.
Of the 838,109 residential claims filed, 522,493 had been settled with
some payment and 256,605 resulted in no money changing hands. Insurance
officials have noted the amounts of damages often fail to reach
policyholders’ hurricane deductibles.
Irma made landfall twice in Florida on Sept. 10, 2017. It first hit
Cudjoe Key, less than 30 miles northeast of Key West, and later hit
Collier County before running up the peninsula.
Outside of South Florida, more than 90 percent of Irma claims have been
closed.
In Miami-Dade County, 18 percent of claims remain open, while 13.2
percent remain unsettled in Broward.
Monroe County, which includes the Keys, had seen 30,896 claims, of which
59 percent led to insurance payments. In Monroe, 7.5 percent of claims
remained open.
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