What Florida’s post-hurricane landscape means for insurers

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In the wake of Hurricane Helene’s devastation, more than 200 people have been confirmed killed in Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and elsewhere – making it one of the deadliest hurricanes since Katrina in 2005. As estimates As total losses continue to skyrocket and the impending Hurricane Milton is poised to wreak more havoc, insurers and consumers alike are left wondering what the post-storm landscape will look like.

Data released on October 4 by CoreLogic, a global provider of property data and analytics, estimates that total flooding and wind loss from Helene land somewhere between $30.5 billion and $47.5 billion. Of these estimated totals, wind losses are $4.5 billion to $6.5 billion, insured flood losses are $6 billion to $11 billion, and uninsured flood losses are between 20 and 30 billion dollars.

“The fact that so much damage was concentrated outside Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHAs) makes it difficult to realize the full extent of the impact on uninsured homeowners,” said Jon Schneyer, director of disaster response at CoreLogic, in a press release. “Fortunately, FEMA (National Flood Insurance Program) is expected to provide up to $6.5 billion in insurance for recovery efforts, which will help bring much-needed recovery aid to affected areas” .

Read more: Damage estimates from Hurricane Helene are increasing, tripling initial forecasts

Residents already rebuilding are bracing themselves again as Hurricane Milton is expected to make landfall on October 9 around 8:00 PM EDT.

“In situations like these, with two devastating storms arriving in sequence, properly deploying resources and ‘ground staff’ such as third-party adjusters and administrators to affected areas can be a challenge for insurers,” said Robert Guinn, partner of the company. Florida law firm Cole, Scott & Kissane specializing in property insurance.

“There is an incredible burden on companies, staff and vendors to have the people needed for both the Helene claims and the Milton claims,” ​​Guinn said.

The measurements from National Hurricane Center maximum sustained winds from Milton in excess of 150 mph, classifying the event as a Category Four storm.

Additional challenges in the aftermath of hurricanes go beyond the allocation of recovery experts to include the increased risk of injury during cleanup, the mental health toll of directly assisting with the destruction, and more.

Woody Dwyer, director of loss control for AmTrust Financial, said businesses can be at increased risk of fraudulent workers’ compensation claims by those who “try to take advantage of the situation by filing false claims for injuries that did not occur or they were not working. – related,” he said.

Read more: How to prepare your home and community for a hurricane

From an insurance perspective, coverage can become a contentious battleground between providers and policyholders.

California residents, abandoned by their insurance providers, begged California Assembly Insurance Committee last month after losing coverage due to increased fire risks.

Ricardo Lara, State Insurance Commissioner, issued a moratorium that prevents home insurers from canceling policies for more than 750,000 residents affected by the line, airport and bridge fires.

Michael “Fitz” Fitzgerald, insurance industry advisor for SAS, pointed out that everything from the classification of the event to the nature of the damage sustained and even the nuances of policy coverage can further complicate recovery efforts.

“As a consumer, you’re like, ‘I just want my stuff covered.’ … The part where it gets into the weeds is you can buy a policy that covers everything that could happen, but it’s going to be extremely expensive,” Fitzgerald said.

Read on to learn more about the storms and how consumers and insurers alike can start preparing for rebuilding.