Fitch says Hurricane Milton will push 2024 insured losses to more than $100 billion.

By Matt Tracy

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Hurricane Milton could cause up to $50 billion in insured losses for Florida property owners, pushing the estimated losses of insurers in the state to more than $100 billion in 2024 alone, Fitch Ratings said in – a report published on Thursday.

On Thursday morning, the Category 3 storm cut a destructive path across the Sunshine State, killing at least 10 people and leaving millions without power.

But the state appears to have avoided the “worst-case scenario” outlined by analysts, who on Wednesday estimated as much as $100 billion in insured losses in Milton alone.

Now, Fitch analysts estimate Milton will result in between $30 billion and $50 billion in insured losses, according to their report released Thursday, which said it would be the largest insured loss since Hurricane Ian in 2022.

In the wake of Hurricane Helene two weeks earlier, Milton would further push total insured losses for insurers in the state to more than $100 billion for the fifth year in a row, Fitch analysts wrote.

Final losses will depend in part on the level of demand for goods needed to repair and rebuild storm-damaged properties, which historically can increase insured losses by 20 percent or more, according to Fitch.

Milton is unlikely to affect the credit of large, well-capitalized property and casualty insurers and global reinsurers, the report said.

Domestic insurers are also likely to absorb expected losses through their reinsurance programs, Fitch analysts wrote. They warned, however, that those state specialists will be exposed if another storm hits the state this hurricane season.

“The precarious position of Florida’s homeowner’s insurance market will weaken further with the destruction from Milton.”