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Insured Losses From Tropical Storm Fay Surpass $248 Million |
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11/06/2008 |
TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Sep 19, 2008 (A. M. Best via COMTEX) -- By Chad Hemenway
Total claims from Tropical Storm Fay, which slogged through most of Florida in August, have climbed to more than 35,700, according to the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation.
About $248.3 million of insured damage has been reported. Insurers will retain $209.6 million of this amount and $38.7 million is to be covered by reinsurance, the OIR reported.
Claims numbers and insured loss amounts include homeowners, dwelling, mobile homeowners, commercial, residential private flood and federal flood policies.
About 39%, or 13,991 claims, of the total 35,787, have been resolved. Payment resulted from 9,613 claims, the OIR said.
Brevard County reported the most claims, with 6,341, followed by Duval with 5,112 and Orange, with 3,554.
The OIR is requiring insurers to report claims from Fay later this month and twice more in October.
Fay, the sixth named storm of the 2008 hurricane season, made landfall in the Sunshine State four separate times as it snaked up the East Coast. The storm had maintained winds of about 60 mph, never gaining hurricane strength, but dumping large amounts of rain on Florida and bordering states. It caused downed trees and power lines and spawned several tornadoes. According to a letter from Gov. Charlie Crist requesting federal aid, Florida is also expecting $20 million in agricultural damage (BestWire, Aug. 29, 2008).
In 2007, the top five writers of homeowners multiperil in Florida, according to A.M. Best Co. state/line product information based on direct premiums written, were: State Farm Group, with a 21.3% market share; Citizens Property Insurance Corp., with 20.5%; Universal P&C Insurance Co., with 6.1%; USAA Group, with 5.2%; and Tower Hill Group, with 4.4%.
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