Some have said that this will be among the 5 most expensive winters in over 30 years.
The Insurance Information Institute has now released its predictions about the costs associated with this last winter for the insurance industry, and has determined that the payments resulting from storms have now reached over $1.5 billion.
As this week has shown in many parts of the country, the snowstorms aren’t done for the year.
Now, the Verisk Analytics Property Claims Services firm has estimated that there were already about 175,000 claims paid to policyholders by the insurance industry from January 1 through February 21. These figures include only two out of the four major winter storms that have struck regions of the country since the start of the year, according to the institute’s news release.
The majority of the losses for the insurance industry have been from homes and buildings that have been damaged.
From downed tree branches to collapsed roofs and from fallen power lines to burst water pipes, these have caused widespread damage to homes and buildings. This is above and beyond the increase in auto accidents due to poor driving conditions. Businesses have also sustained their fair share of struggles with supply chain losses and business interruption running high during the first two months of 2014.
Last winter, it was estimated that he insured losses due to winter storms was about $2 billion. This was a massive increase over the $38 million that had been experienced the year before. This, according to the Insurance Information Institute’s data from Munich Re. If a yearly average is taken from the $28 billion in losses that the industry saw from 1993 through 2012, then it would reveal that the median was $1.4 per year from that season.
This winter, which officially ends mid next week, will likely end up being one of the five most expensive for the insurance industry since 1980, if the institute’s predictions are correct. However, it should be noted that the losses that have actually been seen are well within the range that had been forecasted by insurers, particularly as the industry began 2014 on strong financial ground.