The third quarter’s eight catastrophes — all wind and thunderstorm events — incurred $1.8 billion in insured losses.
As reported by Verisk’s Property Claim Services® (PCS®), there were eight third-quarter catastrophes in 2013. The cost to insurers was approximately $1.8 billion in losses, based on current PCS estimates. The eight catastrophes consisted entirely of Wind and Thunderstorm Events that resulted in more than 276,000 claims.
The catastrophes involved ten states. The two states suffering the most insured property loss were Minnesota and Colorado, with $665 million and $522 million in losses, respectively.
The average frequency of catastrophes in the third quarter for the last decade is approximately eight catastrophes. The highest frequency was in 2008 with 11, and the lowest frequency was in 2012 with six.
Catastrophe losses through the end of September totaled approximately $11.65 billion,* with 26 catastrophes designated for the period. That figure is likely to change as PCS continues to survey insurers for updated loss information for several of the catastrophe events.
The industry has described the 2013 Atlantic hurricane season as one of the least intense in many years. There were only 12 named storms through the month of October. Only two of the named storms were hurricanes, and they weren’t considered major. In terms of accumulated cyclone energy, which measures the combined strength and duration of tropical storms and hurricanes, tropical storm activity was about 70 percent below the 1981 – 2010 average.
Stay tuned for our year-end 2013 analysis in the Q1 2014 issue of Visualize.