Ohio storms generate US$170 million in claims

With claims continuing to come in from May storms in Ohio, the state’s Insurance Institute (OII) says thus far insurers have reported losses of US$167 million.About 60% of the 44,000 claims filed so far are for homeowners’ losses from the storms, which hit various regions in the last two weeks of May. Among the predominant claims were those for wind and hail damage to roofs, gutters and siding, water backup in basements, vehicle damage from hail and property damage from lightening, explains OII president Dan Kelso.Auto claims were about US$31 million, compared to US$116 million in homeowners’ claims. Business claims were just US$12.5 million. Kelso notes that not all insurers in the region were part of this early survey, and that some insurers will be accepting claims up to a year following the storms, so the numbers are a low estimate. For example, storms on April 20, 2003 which produced an initial loss estimate of US$51.7 million actually produced losses of US$230.5 million when insurers were re-surveyed in April, 2004.