The amount of money that insurers expect to pay for the 2020 Louisiana hurricanes continues to grow, as Hurricanes Laura, Delta and Zeta promoted insurers to pay or reserve $10 billion on claims in Louisiana throughout the second quarter of 2021, according to the state’s insurance commissioner Jim Donelon.
Policyholders have now filed 316,879 claims of all types from the three storms through the second quarter of this year.
Of those, 205,554 claims, or 65%, were closed with payment as of June 30, garnering $7.8 billion in payments for damage caused by the three hurricanes which occurred last year. Insurers have reserved an additional $2.2 billion to pay on those claims.
Last year, the Louisiana Department of Insurance (LDI) issued a “data call” requiring all authorised property and casualty insurers, including surplus lines insurers, to submit their claims data on hurricanes Laura, Delta and Zeta in Louisiana at regular intervals until October 2021.
These payments do not include claims or payments from the National Flood Insurance Program, nor do they include uninsured losses and what people paid out of pocket to cover the deductibles on their insurance policies.
The 2020 storm season was the most active one ever in Louisiana, with three hurricanes plus tropical storms Cristobal and Marco hitting the area, as well as being the second most expensive for Louisiana behind the 2005 storm season.
Hurricane Laura has now displaced Hurricane Rita in 2005 as the second most costly storm in Louisiana history.
There have been 175,160 claims from Hurricane Laura, which struck Southwest Louisiana on August 27 with the strongest winds accompanying a hurricane in our state in over 150 years.
As of June 30, insurers had closed 86% of the claims from Hurricane Laura, 68% of which were closed with payment.
Policyholders have filed 86,043 claims from Hurricane Delta, which made landfall in Southwest Louisiana. At the end of Q2, insurers had closed 91% of all Delta claims, with 62% closing with payment.
55,676 claims were filed from Hurricane Zeta, which made landfall in Terrebonne Parish travelled through the New Orleans area. As of June 30, insurers had closed 93% of reported Zeta claims, and 59% of those claims were closed with payment.
Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon commented: “As the amounts being paid out due to the devastating 2020 storm season continue to grow, I encourage policyholders to still file supplemental claims if they find additional damage or increased costs after their original claim amount was paid.”
