Claims News Service, Apr. 30, 11:18 a.m. EST — Early quarterly reports from insurers indicating heavy catastrophe losses have heralded ISO's statement on first-quarter catastrophe losses. The company's PCS unit has confirmed that the first quarter of 2008 was the worst for catastrophe losses in almost 10 years.

PCS said that U.S. property/casualty insurers are expected to pay homeowners and businesses an estimated $3.35 billion for first-quarter property losses resulting from nine catastrophes. Both figures are the highest reported since before 1999. In all, more than 615,000 claims from 22 states were filed between January and the end of March.

PCS said that seven catastrophe events were caused by severe weather — damaging wind, large hail, flooding, and tornadoes — and one was caused by a winter storm. Another loss that occurred at a Georgia sugar refinery was deemed a catastrophic loss due to workers' compensation estimates, but those figures are currently undetermined and were not factored into the figures released by ISO.