https://sputnikglobe.com/20241010/hurricane-milton-insurance-losses-could-be-60bln-highest-since-2022---fitch-1120504964.html
Hurricane Milton Insurance Losses Could Be $60Bln, Highest Since 2022 - Fitch
Hurricane Milton Insurance Losses Could Be $60Bln, Highest Since 2022 - Fitch
Sputnik International
According to Fitch Ratings, Hurricane Milton could cost home insurance companies $60 billion, the most since Hurricane Ian struck the state two years ago.
2024-10-10T23:45+0000
2024-10-10T23:45+0000
2024-10-10T23:45+0000
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"We estimate Milton’s insured losses will range from $30 billion-$50 billion, the largest insured loss since Hurricane Ian … ravaged a similar path in 2022," Fitch said in a statement. Milton will be a fourth-quarter event in terms of financial impact, and a full-2024 fiscal accounting for large-rated insurers with Florida exposure, the statement said. Insurance losses from the disaster will hit reinsurance attachment points, shifting a meaningful amount of losses to the reinsurance market, particularly from the Florida specialist companies with lower retentions, the statement said. Milton is not likely to affect credit for rated property/casualty insurers and global reinsurers given their very strong capital levels, the statement said. But Florida’s property insurance specialists, which Fitch does not rate, appear vulnerable if the storm generates losses in excess of reinsurance limits, the statement said. Ultimately, losses will depend on the surge in demand for materials required for rebuilding works after the storm, Fitch said, noting that Milton’s cost pattern will closely follow that of Hurricane Helene, a Category 4 storm that devastated the US southeast two weeks earlier. "Higher demand and limited supply of labor and materials needed to adjust claims and repair/rebuild following multiple large-scale disasters can increase insured losses by 20% or more," the statement said. On the global front, Milton’s cleanup will push global industry insured losses to beyond $100 billion for 2024, said Fitch, noting that it would be the fifth consecutive year for estimated damages to cross that threshold. Florida property experienced flat to 10% rate declines during June/July 2024 reinsurance renewals, as a result of the 2023 hurricane season, the statement said. Milton made landfall on Wednesday as a "dangerous Category 3" storm near Siesta Key, on Florida's central west coast. It caused considerable economic and insured losses from high winds, substantial storm surge, heavy rainfall, tornadoes and flooding. Ian, a devastating tropical cyclone and the third costliest weather disaster on record worldwide, struck Florida on September 28, 2022. It was the state’s worst storm since the 2018 Hurricane Michael and cost more than $112 billion in damages.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20241009/florida-family-still-recovering-from-hurricane-helene-braces-for-destructive-milton-1120491942.html
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Hurricane Milton Insurance Losses Could Be $60Bln, Highest Since 2022 - Fitch
NEW YORK, October 10 (Sputnik) - US insurers could lose as much as $60 billion in total from the impact of Hurricane Milton in Florida, the most since Hurricane Ian, which struck the state two years ago, Fitch Ratings said on Thursday.
"We estimate Milton’s insured losses will range from $30 billion-$50 billion, the largest insured loss since Hurricane Ian … ravaged a similar path in 2022," Fitch said in a statement.
Milton will be a fourth-quarter event in terms of financial impact, and a full-2024 fiscal accounting for large-rated insurers with Florida exposure, the statement said.
Insurance losses from the disaster will hit reinsurance attachment points, shifting a meaningful amount of losses to the reinsurance market, particularly from the Florida specialist companies with lower retentions, the statement said.
Milton is not likely to affect credit for rated property/casualty insurers and global reinsurers given their very strong capital levels, the statement said.
But Florida’s property insurance specialists, which Fitch does not rate, appear vulnerable if the storm generates losses in excess of reinsurance limits, the statement said.
Ultimately, losses will depend on the surge in demand for materials required for rebuilding works after the storm, Fitch said, noting that Milton’s cost pattern will closely follow that of Hurricane Helene, a Category 4 storm that devastated the US southeast two weeks earlier.
"Higher demand and limited supply of labor and materials needed to adjust claims and repair/rebuild following multiple large-scale disasters can increase insured losses by 20% or more," the statement said.
On the global front, Milton’s cleanup will push global industry insured losses to beyond $100 billion for 2024, said Fitch, noting that it would be the fifth consecutive year for estimated damages to cross that threshold.
"This heightened level of catastrophe losses will likely limit any potential for rate declines in property catastrophe business in 2025 as (re)insurers maintain underwriting discipline," the statement said.
Florida property experienced flat to 10% rate declines during June/July 2024 reinsurance renewals, as a result of the 2023 hurricane season, the statement said.
"The property market could see a hardening of premium rates, depending on the ultimate Milton losses and the amount of additional catastrophe losses for the remainder of 2024," the statement said. "However, the sizable property reinsurance price increases experienced in 2023 are unlikely given the more adequate current pricing environment."
Milton made landfall on Wednesday as a "dangerous Category 3" storm near Siesta Key, on Florida's central west coast. It caused considerable economic and insured losses from high winds, substantial storm surge, heavy rainfall, tornadoes and flooding.
Ian, a devastating tropical cyclone and the third costliest weather disaster on record worldwide, struck Florida on September 28, 2022. It was the state’s worst storm since the 2018 Hurricane Michael and cost more than $112 billion in damages.
