Traditionally, there tend to be numerous homeowner insurance leads in the summer months, as this is the time of year in which hurricane activity increases. But according to a recent report, damaging weather was on display in May as well, prompting a considerable number of home insurance claims.
Reinsurance provider Aon Benfield reports that throughout much of last month, hail and wind damage in the U.S. resulted in economic losses of approximately $275 million and more than 30,000 insurance claims, valued at an estimated $150 million. These claims were primarily from two storm systems. The first affected a broad swath of the country – stretching from the Dakotas to Maryland – and was primarily a wind and hail event. The other, which involved tornadic activity, impacted the Oklahoma area and caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage in the Sooner State alone, according to the Southwestern Insurance Information Service.
Meanwhile, even though it was before the official start of hurricane season, Florida saw the remnants of Hurricane Beryl, which was downgraded to a tropical storm. Winds at their peak reached 70 MPH causing minor damage but no injuries or fatalities. New Mexico had its own environmental hazard to deal with as well, as wildfires throughout the state scorched thousands of acres and forced many people out of their homes. The wildfire event was believed to be the state's largest in terms of total damage, Aon Benfield reports.
These events weren't confined to the United States either, as Italy was rocked by the country's strongest earthquake in three years.
"The Italian earthquakes resulted in the largest natural disaster loss for the country since the L'Aquila earthquake event in 2009," said Steve Jakubowski, president of Aon's publisher, Impact Forecasting. "Given the level of insurance coverage in the region, it is anticipated that insured losses would reach minimally into the hundreds of millions of dollars."
Agents may want to reassure their customers that despite the high number of claims submitted to providers, insurers are more than capable of satisfying policyholders' compensatory needs.
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