Insurers to Pay Hurricane Floyd Victims $1.3 Billion for Insured Property Damage, Estimated Insurance Services Office

January 1, 2011 / 2 min read

NEW YORK, Sept. 24, 1999 – U.S. property/casualty insurers will pay homeowners and businesses an estimated $1.3 billion for insured property damage wreaked by Hurricane Floyd, according to preliminary calculations by Insurance Services Office, Inc.'s (ISO) Property Claim Services (PCS) unit.

Hurricane Floyd rampaged through a long swath of 16 states, from Florida to Maine, but insured property damage was not as devastating as initially feared.

The five states leading the roster in insured damage to personal and commercial property and vehicles are:North Carolina, $835 million; New Jersey, $84 million; Virginia, $65 million; and Florida and South Carolina, $50 million each, said ISO's claims unit.

More than 503,000 claims are expected to be filed with insurers, according to the claims group. PCS estimates North Carolina homeowners and businesses will file 230,000 insured property-loss claims with insurers, followed by 39,500 in New Jersey, 35,000 in Virginia, 28,000 in South Carolina, and 24,300 in Pennsylvania.

Hurricane Floyd made landfall near Cape Fear, N. C., on September 15 as a strong Category 2 hurricane and then was downgraded to a tropical storm the following day. Much of the property damage was from widespread flooding from heavy rainfall, not from powerful winds. The federal government covers flood losses through its National Flood Insurance Program, and those losses are not included in PCS' estimates. PCS estimates also do not include crop and livestock losses.

ISO's PCS unit defines a catastrophe as an event within a particular territory that causes $25 million or more in insured property losses and affects a significant number of property and casualty policyholders and insurers.

PCS estimates represent anticipated insured loss on an industry-wide basis arising from catastrophes, reflecting the total net insurance payment for personal and commercial property lines of insurance covering fixed property, personal property, vehicles, boats, related property items, and business-interruption losses. The estimates exclude loss-adjustment expenses.

Release: Immediate

Contacts:
Giuseppe Barone / Erica Helton
MWW Group (for ISO)
201-507-9500
gbarone@mww.com / ehelton@mww.com