STORMS RACK UP $1.2B IN CLAIMS

U.S. property/casualty insurers are expected to pay an estimated $1.2 billion for insured property-loss claims from winter storms and windstorms that pummeled 10 states in early April, according to preliminary estimates by Insurance Services Office Inc.’s (ISO) Property Claim Services (PCS) unit. PCS estimates insurers will be inundated with more than 386,000 claims from auto, residential and commercial policyholders who were affected by ice, snow, freezing rain, wind, hail, tornadoes and flooding. Texas was hit hardest, sustaining $885 million in insured property losses from an estimated 285,000 claims. Wind gusts exceeding 80 miles an hour and hail the size of baseballs pounded several Texas counties along the path of the thunderstorm. Missouri insured losses were the second highest at $110 million.