AIR ESTIMATES UP to 8.8 Billion in Insured Losses fro Caribbean, US after Hurricane Matthew

BOSTON - Insured losses from Hurricane Matthew in the Caribbean and the United States could total $8.8 billion, according to risk modeling firm AIR Worldwide.

Through Oct. 13, State Farm received 31,310 homeowners and automobile claims in the five states impacted by the hurricane: Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. North Carolina officials said rivers there were continuing to crest. State Farm Spokeswoman Michal Brower told Best’s News Service of the total, 24,400 were homeowners claims, the greatest number filed in South Carolina, 7,080, followed by North Carolina, 5,700, then Florida, 4,940.

Wind and storm surge damage to “onshore residential, commercial, and industrial properties and their contents, automobiles, and time element coverage” in the United States should fall between $2.2 billion and $6.8 billion, AIR said in a statement. In the Caribbean, the losses should range from $500 million to $2 billion, the company said.

Earlier, Karen Clark & Co. estimates insured losses up to $7 billion in the United States, most of it caused by wind (Best’s News Service, Oct. 12, 2016). An earlier CoreLogic analysis said losses in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina could reach $6 billion (Best’s News Service, Oct. 10, 2016).

“Hurricane Matthew is certainly a remarkable storm system in many ways,” Peter Sousounis, AIR research and modeling division director of meteorology, wrote in a company blog.

Among its unique features, he said, was it remained at or above Category 3 for seven-and-a-half days, the fifth-longest in the Atlantic Ocean since satellite observations started.

In the United States, millions of homes and businesses lost power, hundreds of roads were, and in some cases remain, closed — including sections of interstate Route 95 — rail service was suspended, and thousands of flights were canceled.

In some locations, AIR said, Matthew’s winds were “upwards of 100 mph, storm surge reached nine feet, and as much as 17 inches of rain was reported. Throughout the region more than 3 million people were evacuated.”

Matthew left widespread destruction in Haiti and affected Cuba and the Bahamas after cutting through the Windward Islands and Barbados as a tropical storm. The CCRIF SPC — formerly the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility — said on Oct. 6 the storm triggered the Haitian government’s tropical cyclone policy and will likely lead to a payout of slightly more than US$20 million (Best’s News Service, Oct. 7, 2016). The CCRIF said it was the largest payment ever made by the segregated portfolio company created to limit the financial impact of natural catastrophes in the region.

On Oct. 12, the CCRIF said it was making additional payouts totalling almost US$8 million to Haiti, Barbados, Saint Lucia and St. Vincent & the Grenadines, as the storm triggered their excess rainfall policies.

The top five writers of homeowners multiperil in South Carolina in 2015, based on direct premiums written according to BestLink, were: State Farm Group, with a 23.29% market share; Allstate Insurance Group, 10.8%; USAA Group, 7.72%; Nationwide Group, 5.57%; and Travelers Group, 5.48%.

The top five writers of all private passenger automobile in South Carolina in 2015, based on direct premiums written according to BestLink, were: State Farm Group, with a 24.66% market share; Allstate Insurance Group, 14.05%; Berkshire Hathaway Insurance Group, 10.89%; Nationwide Group, 8.93%; and USAA Group, 8.20%.

The top five writers of homeowners multiperil in North Carolina in 2015, based on direct premiums written according to BestLink, were: State Farm Group, with a 19.09% market share; North Carolina Farm Bureau Insurance Group, 12.51%; Nationwide Group, 12.16%; USAA Group, 7.36%; and Allstate Insurance Group, 7.32%.

The top five writers of all private passenger auto in North Carolina in 2015, based on direct premiums written according to BestLink, were: Nationwide Group, with a 15.88% market share; State Farm Group, 14.71%; Berkshire Hathaway Insurance Group, 9.42%; North Carolina Farm Bureau Insurance Group, 9.29%; and Allstate Insurance Group, 9.24%.