| Hurricane Irene Insured Loss Estimates $3 billion To $6 billion |
Hurricane Irene Insured Loss Estimates $3 billion To $6 billion, Say AIR WorldwideAIR Worldwide has put the insured losses from Hurricane Irene to onshore properties in the U.S. at between $3 billion and $6 billion, the catastrophe modeling firm said in a statement on Tuesday, August 30. This is on top of the August 26 AIR estimates for insured losses in the Caribbean from Irene as being between $500 million and $1.1 billion. AIR estimates include wind and storm surge damage to onshore residential, commercial and industrial properties and their contents, automobiles, and time element coverage (additional living expenses for residential properties and business interruption for commercial properties). Rival modeling firm Eqecat on Sunday, estimated insured losses for damages from Hurricane Irene in North and South Carolina would range from $200 million to $400 million. Chris Christie, the Governor of New Jersey, is reported as saying in press reports that the cost of damage to buildings and infrastructure would be in the billions of dollars, not the tens of billions of dollars. The top U.S. Property and Casualty writers, based on 2010 net premiums written, were State Farm Group, followed by Allstate Insurance Group, Liberty Mutual Insurance, Berkshire Hathaway, and Travelers Group, according to BestLink, which provides online access to A.M. Best’s database of insurance information. Bermuda’s reinsurers provide an estimated 40% or more of the Property Catastrophe reinsurance to U.S. insurers, said a report in Bermuda’s Royal Gazette on the impact of the hurricane. Kinetic Analysis put estimates for the damage at roughly $2.6 billion in insured losses and as much as $7 billion in total economic losses, according to a report in Best’s News Service. |
