Insurers to Pay Policyholders $700 Million for Insured Property Losses from 17-State Catastrophe in April

January 1, 2011 / 2 min read

JERSEY CITY, NJ, May 23, 2002 — Insured property losses from tornadoes and thunderstorms in 17 states during the week of April 27–May 3 are now estimated to be $700 million, according to preliminary estimates by Insurance Services Office, Inc.'s (ISO) Property Claim Services (PCS) unit.

Tennessee and Virginia tied as worst-affected states, each sustaining $120 million in insured property damage, followed by Maryland at $115 million. Insurers' losses from the tornado that pummeled La Plata, Md. (pop. 5,800), and leveled the center of the town alone totaled nearly $25 million from policyholder claims.

Kentucky ($95 million) and Ohio ($70 million) followed Tennessee, Virginia and Maryland in insured property losses.

Homeowners and businesses reported more than 218,000 claims to insurers in Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.

The number of claims reported to insurers in the five hardest-hit states breaks down as follows: Tennessee – 38,000; Virginia – 28,000; Maryland – 39,000; Kentucky – 33,000; and Ohio – 22,000.

ISOÅ'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 industrywide 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.

ISO is a leading source of information, products and services related to property and liability risk. For a broad spectrum of commercial and personal lines of insurance, ISO provides statistical, actuarial, underwriting and claims information and analysis; consulting and technical services; policy language; information about specific locations; fraud-identification tools; and data processing. In the United States and around the world, ISO serves insurers, reinsurers, agents, brokers, self-insureds, risk managers, and insurance regulators and other government agencies.

Release: Immediate

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