U.S. hurricane claim total tops US$20 billion: ISO

The final tally for the four major Atlantic hurricanes which struck the U.S. coast this year will be in excess of US$20 billion, confirms the Property Claim Services (PCS) unit of the Insurance Services Office (ISO).Hurricane Jeanne, the last of the four, should cost insurers US$3.25 billion, and produce nearly 385,000 claims from homeowners and businesses, as well as damage to cars and boats. The majority of these losses are in Florida (US$2.8 billion), with Pennsylvania following distantly at US$145 million. Significant losses were also seen in Georgia (US$105 million), South Carolina (US$45 million) and New York (US$35 million).Jeanne landed in Puerto Rico on September 15, but hit the Florida coastline ten days later. It followed earlier hurricanes Charley, Frances and Ivan. PCS says the four storms will produce US$20.49 billion in losses on 2.1 million claims.