The fierce storms that pummeled Washington state and Oregon late last week will be declared a catastrophe, the Insurance Services Office Inc. announced today.
Jersey City-based ISO's Gary Kerney, assistant vice president, property claim service, said in an e-mail statement: “PCS designated the event [the storms in Washington and Oregon] a catastrophe, but it is too early for insured loss information to develop. Claims were being reported in substantial numbers on Friday, but many residents were still without power and unable to report. PCS will begin to collect loss information later this week.”
ISO's definition of a catastrophe is an event of $25 million or more in insurance losses that affects a significant number of policyholders and insurance carriers.
Heavy rains and winds gusting to more than 100 mph inundated the region last week, causing extensive power outages and damage in both states. At least four people were reported dead from the storm.
Washington state's largest utility, Puget Sound Energy, said on its Web site that by Sunday, it anticipates restoring power to a half-million customers. It said more than 700,000 had lost power from the storm.
Nancy Carpenter, public affairs specialist with Bloomington, Ill.-based State Farm Insurance out of their Dupont, Wash., office, said the company is still collecting data and has few hard facts on losses at this time. She noted, however, that losses appear “to be significant in both states.”
She said there are reports of roof damage, downed trees and smashed cars–the types of damage to be expected from severe high winds.
By Monday morning Western Standard Time, she said the company had received 4,500 homeowners claims and 800 auto claims from both states, but primarily from Washington. She emphasized that these were very early reports and the figures are expected to rise.
The insurer assembled its team of claims adjusters prior to the storms and has gotten them into the damaged areas to begin work, she said. More will be added between now and the end of the holiday season. The company also is running advertising to inform customers about how to submit claims and contact their agents.
State Farm is the largest homeowners insurer in Washington, with 18 percent of the market, and Oregon, with 25 percent of the market, according to National Underwriter Highline Media Data Service.
Keith Owens, a spokesman for Zurich, the number two homeowner insurer, said the company received only 70 claims over the weekend. These are very preliminary numbers, he noted, adding that the company has claims representatives on the ground to assess the situation.
Karl Newman, president of Seattle-based N.W. Insurance Council, representing 80 percent of homeowners insurers in Washington, Oregon and Idaho, said the organization hopes to have some preliminary numbers soon, but there is no question that this is a significant claim event for the two states.
It appears that Oregon was not as adversely affected as Washington, Mr. Newman said, but there are still a significant number of claims from both states. The most significant number will probably come out of the Puget Sound area, which includes Seattle, he added.
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