Insurers' Losses Stand at $460 Million From Seven-State Tornado Damage, Estimates ISO's Property Claim Services Unit

January 1, 2011 / 1 min read

JERSEY CITY, NJ, Dec. 4, 2002 — Insurers are expected to pay homeowners and businesses $460 million for insured-property losses from the rash of tornadoes, strong thunderstorm winds and hail that struck seven states on Nov. 9–10, according to preliminary estimates by Insurance Services Office, Inc.'s (ISO) Property Claim Services (PCS) unit.

As many as 88 tornadoes were originally reported to have ripped through a wide swath of Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee, causing extensive damage to property and vehicles. For example, a third of Carbon Hill Township, Ala., was destroyed, as were dozens of buildings in Columbus, Miss.

Insured losses were greatest in Tennessee at $160 million, followed by Ohio at $125 million and Alabama at $95 million. Insurers have received nearly 86,000 claims from residential and commercial policyholders.

ISO's PCS unit defines a catastrophe as an event within a particular territory that causes $25 million or more in insured property losses and affects a significant number of property and casualty policyholders and insurers.

PCS estimates represent anticipated insured loss on an industrywide basis arising from catastrophes, reflecting the total net insurance payment for personal and commercial property lines of insurance covering fixed property, personal property, vehicles, boats, related property items and business-interruption losses. The estimates exclude loss-adjustment expenses.

ISO is a leading source of information, products and services related to property and liability risk. For a broad spectrum of commercial and personal lines of insurance, ISO provides statistical, actuarial, underwriting and claims information and analyses; consulting and technical services; policy language; information about specific locations; fraud-identification tools; and data processing. In the United States and around the world, ISO serves insurers, reinsurers, agents, brokers, self-insureds, risk managers, insurance regulators and other government agencies.

Release: Immediate

Contacts:
Giuseppe Barone / Erica Helton
MWW Group (for ISO)
201-507-9500
gbarone@mww.com / ehelton@mww.com