The late-season hurricane known as Isaias had produced about 55,000 claims in Florida with estimated insured losses at $651 million, within two weeks of the Oct. 9 storm, carriers have reported to the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation.
The hurricane made landfall in the Florida Panhandle near Pensacola, and the numbers compare to Hurricane Sally, which hit nearly the same area in 2020 and produced 72,000 claims and $577 million in losses within six weeks.
Isaias, a Category 2 storm which Karen Clark & Co. has predicted will result in about $3 billion in total insured losses across the Southeastern United States, was small enough that it is unlikely to have an impact on most carriers’ reinsurance renewals, Gallagher Re said in a report. AM Best called it an “earnings event” that will have little effect on insurers’ surplus levels or financial stability.
Most of the Isaias claims have come from residential property owners. Some 22% of those claims had been closed by Oct. 20–many of them without payment, OIR reported. The most-often cited reason for no payment–a new reporting category required by OIR this year– is “administrative reasons,” which may include claims withdrawn by th...