NU Online News Service, Aug. 31, 9:49 a.m. EDT
Catastrophe modeler Eqecat says the U.S. can expect $1.5 billion to $2.8 billion in insured losses from Hurricane Irene.
Add insured losses from the storm's damage in the Caribbean and the range climbs to between $1.8 billion and $3.4 billion.
Eqecat says New York, New Jersey and Connecticut account for 60 percent of the insured losses in the U.S., with two-thirds coming from personal insurance policies and one-third from commercial policies.
AIR Worldwide provided a much higher range of estimated insured losses due to Irene of $3 billion to $6 billion.
The Boston-based modeler released an insured loss estimate for the Caribbean of between $500 million and $1.1 billion.
Eqecat says losses in New York could be as much as $900 million. New Jersey insurance claims could reach $600 million. Up to $250 million in insurance losses are expected in Connecticut.
The Oakland, Calif.-based modeler says Irene caused more than $10 billion in economic damages.
The severity of damage was low due to the hurricane's lower-than-anticipated winds, but high losses are due to the fact that the storm affected more than 40 million people as it traveled from North Carolina up the East Coast into Canada, Eqecat adds.
The estimate includes personal (home and auto) and commercial property losses, covered flood losses, business interruption, and payments made by insurers to evacuated policyholders for living expenses.
Losses to the National Flood Insurance Program, and losses to marine insurers, are not included in the estimate.
AIR's loss estimate includes wind and storm-surge damage to onshore property and contents, automobiles, additional living expenses, demand surge, and direct and indirect business-interruption losses.
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