The tornadoes that struck Joplin, Missouri, and other areas in 2011 will now be increasing the homeowners insurance rates as a whole, regardless of whether or not the area was influenced by any wind storms last year. According to data from the Missouri Department of Insurance, the rates for homeowners insurance in that state will be increasing by just over 5 percent. At the same time, state insurance officials in Illinois – an area also impacted by storms last year – have yet to provide any estimates as to how…
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Insurance rates in Missouri to rise after troublesome year of natural disasters.
Missouri residents can expect to see higher rates for their homeowners insurance in the coming months thanks to the major disaster that struck the town of Joplin early last year. On May 22, 2011, a massive tornado rolled through Joplin, causing unprecedented damage throughout the town causing many businesses to shut down and leaving nearly a third of the town uninhabitable. The tornado cost the state millions of dollars in insured losses, and now insurers are looking to recovery some of that money. Several insurers have proposed rate hikes between…
Read MoreInsurers spend billions on large weather events from 2011
Insurance companies are continuing to make payments to policyholders who suffered damage from large severe weather events earlier this year. Officials in Missouri have now named the tornado that ripped through Joplin’s center earlier in 2011 as the most expensive insurance event in the history of the state. It has been estimated that insurers have already spent approximately $1.13 billion on claims related to this occurrence, and that when all claims have been made and paid out, that number will have grown to almost $1.9 billion. According to John Huff…
Read MoreJoplin tornado could cost insurers as much as $2 billion, say regulators
Several months have passed since a devastating tornado struck the city of Joplin, Missouri. The tornado was classified as an F-5, the highest classification of tornado, causing an unprecedented level of damage to the small city. The natural disaster struck a heavy blow against the insurance industry which has, to date, paid out more than $1 billion in claims. This number, however, is expected to double by the time insurers settle all outstanding claims, according to the Missouri Insurance Department. The Joplin tornado was one of the worst natural disasters…
Read MoreInsurers will make over $2.2 billion in payments for Joplin claims
To date, insurers have made more than $2 billion in payments to cover claims relating to the tornados in Joplin. According to the organization that assembles catastrophe insurance loss predictions, Property Claims Services, the total payouts for the Joplin disaster should pass the $2.2 billion mark. Insurance Information Institute spokesperson, Robert Hartwig, said that this amount is where the numbers from the payments are headed, and it is what insurers are expecting to have to pay. This includes “actual dollars disbursed, plus the dollars insurers have earmarked or put in…
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