NU Online News Service, June. 17, 11:51 a.m. EDT

State Farm has logged more than 400,000 home, business and automobile claims due to U.S. storms in April and May, and claims payments have doubled in less than three weeks.

The top writer of personal-lines insurance in the United States says it has paid close to $1.75 billion to policyholders in April and May and doled out more than $3.3 billion in claims payments this year to date, but the amount includes leftover payments on prior-year catastrophes.

State Farms says in a statement that if it were to classify all the tornadoes, windstorms and hail in April and May as one event, it would become the fifth-costliest homeowners’ catastrophe in 90 years.

Allstate says catastrophe losses in April and May could cost the corporation $2 billion.

The Northbrook, Ill.-based insurer says it expects $600 million in pretax catastrophe losses for seven events in May. The insurer says April losses would be around $1.4 billion.

Catastrophe risk modeler AIR Worldwide says severe weather in May, including a violent tornado that ripped through Joplin, Mo., caused up to $7 billion in insured losses.

After April’s historic tornado activity, modelers estimated insured losses of between $2 billion and $6 billion.

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Catastrophe & Restoration