Along with the first day of summer, many places experience increased thunderstorms, often accompanied by lightning. Although most images we get from movies show lightning striking trees or isolated areas, lightning does strike buildings as well, causing extensive damage.
The good news is that the number of Homeowners' insurance claims from lightning strikes in the United States fell in 2015. The bad news? A new analysis by the New York City-based Insurance Information Institute found that the total insurers paid on those claims — $790 million to nearly 100,000 policyholders — rose by nearly 7%.
The New York City-based institute and Bloomington, Ill.-based State Farm analyzed homeowners insurance data for claims from lightning strikes and found:
- Total insured losses from lightning rose 6.9% from 2014 to 2015, although losses have declined 23.6% overall since 2010.
- There were 99,423 insurer-paid lightning claims in 2015, down 0.4% from 2014.
- The average lightning claim paid 7.4% more than a year ago: $7,947 in 2015 vs. $7,400 a year earlier.
- The average cost per claim rose 64% from 2010 to 2015. By comparison, the Consumer Price Index rose by 9% in the same period.
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Rosalie Donlon
Rosalie Donlon is the editor in chief of ALM's insurance and tax publications, including NU Property & Casualty magazine and NU PropertyCasualty360.com. You can contact her at [email protected].
