Insurance Payouts from Hurricane Michael Rise to $2 Billion

FLORIDA- Artemis.bm writes that the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (FLOIR) has analyzed data from insurance companies and determined that $2 billion have been paid out insured parties because of the destruction caused by Hurricane Michael. The FLOIR has received close to 109,000 Hurricane Michael claims.

On Friday, about 18 percent of all claims filed had been closed, and by Monday there 24 percent were complete. There are still more than 82,600 claims pending. Both commercial and residential property claims are increasing. Residential claims are closed more quickly than commercial claims, which tend to be more complicated and require more time to assess.

Reinsurance firms will be required to pay some of these losses.

Hurricane Michael struck other states, and insurance losses will be taking place in Georgia and Alabama, and in the Carolinas. The losses in Georgia are estimated at $250 million. Losses of around $150 to $200 million per state are expected in Alabama and the Carolina’s.

Hurricane Michael carried out massive destruction in Florida where coastal cities were destroyed. Across several states, homes were torn apart or flooded, businesses leveled, and crops ruined. The storm struck Mexico City, Florida with 155 miles per hour sustained winds making it the Florida Panhandle’s first recorded Category 4 storm. The storm reached Georgia and was downgraded to a Category 3 storm, which was the first hurricane of that strength to reach Georgia since 1898.

In addition to financial losses and destruction, Hurricane Michael killed 35 people in Florida and 45 across all affected states. The state’s hardest hit area has in Bay County.