Insured Losses from Recent South Florida Floods Reaching into the Millions

Recent flooding in south Florida caused insured losses in the hundreds of millions of dollars, from auto and homeowners claims, Aon and AM Best reported.

The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation is also reminding insurers to file simplified catastrophe reporting forms every week, from June 26 to July 17. The data on claims from the June 11 tropical disturbance is required by Florida law. The simplified form does not include the “survey” tab, OIR said in a bulletin. More information is available on the OIR website.

The storm dumped as much as 20 inches of rain on parts of Miami-Dade and Broward counties, state authorities said, but the flooding to homes is not expected to trigger a federal disaster recognition. Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state emergency in those two counties as well as Collier, Lee and Sarasota counties on Florida’s western flank.

Auto claims from high waters have mounted, with State Farm, one of the largest auto insurers in the state, reporting more than 1,200 claims in the last week, a spokesman told the AM Best financial rating and analytics firm.

The five largest writers of passenger auto insurance in Florida in 2023, based on direct premiums written, were: Progressive Insurance Group, with a 22.85% market share; Berkshire Hathaway Insurance Group, which includes GEICO and other firms, with 21.12%; State Farm Group, 16.51%; Allstate Insurance Group, 10.28% and USAA Group, 6.95%; according to AM Best’s BestLink.

The number of National Flood Insurance Program claims that had been filed due to the storm were not available.

The rains last week could foreshadow more storm events for 2024, which forecasters have predicted could bring a higher number of hurricanes in the unusually warm Atlantic basin.

Photo: Part of northeast Miami-Dade County on June 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Kozin)