Early April Ohio Storms Cause $52.6M in Insured Losses

An early April storm caused significant property losses in Ohio and several other states. According to the Ohio Insurance Institute (OII) and Property Claim Services (PCS) high winds and accompanying rains across the Buckeye state caused between $52.6 and $57.8 million in preliminary insured losses.

High winds, rain and even bands of snow moved across Ohio on April 2. Peak wind gusts of over 60 mph were reported in several counties including Darke, Franklin, Hamilton and Montgomery, according to the National Weather Service (NWS)-Wilmington. Cleveland NWS reported wind speeds of 59 mph near Mansfield. Downed trees and power lines caused power outages to 20,600 AEP central Ohio customers and 16,000 Duke Energy customers in southwestern Ohio. 30,000 Miami Valley customers lost power to damaging winds.

Property Claim Services (PCS), a division of Verisk Analytics, estimates preliminary total insured losses at nearly $350 million from the two-day spring outbreak affecting Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington DC, with Ohio estimated losses at $57.8 million. PCS reports Ohio’s estimated insured losses as second highest of the affected states, with Indiana expecting to have the highest level of paid losses that currently stand at $71.4 million. PCS compiles insured property loss estimates from catastrophes for the insurance industry.

Insurance industry estimates do not include losses involving uninsured property or flood-related losses, some of which are covered under the National Flood Insurance Program.

“Not all insurance companies are represented by OII’s survey or PCS findings. The range of $52.6 to $57.8 million in losses for Ohio is the industry’s best guesstimate at this time,” said OII President Dan Kelso.

Ohio Preliminary Storm Loss Estimates

OII estimates are based on a survey of its member companies representing more than 75 percent of Ohio’s personal auto and homeowners insurance markets and 37 percent of Ohio’s commercial lines market, based on 2014 Ohio market share data. A total of 25 property/casualty insurance companies participated in the OII April 2-3 windstorm survey.

Initial insurance company claims estimates ranged from none to 2,950. Insured losses reported by companies ranged from $500 to over $16 million.

Total claims: 9,334
Total insured losses: $52,581,200
Homeowners: 8,265 claims $36.1 million
Auto: 764 claims $1.2 million
Commercial: 490 claims $8.6 million

Note: Loss estimates by policy type do not add up to the total insured loss amount. Not all insurers provided dollar losses by policy type. Claims by policy type also do not add up to total claims estimates. Not all insurers reported claims information by policy type.

OII survey findings show that the majority of claims reported to-date (about 89 percent) pertain to homeowners insurance. Most losses were the result of high winds causing damage to roofs, gutters, siding and windows, and to autos. Water damage to ceilings and walls were also reported. Insurers expect to have most claims paid within 10-30 days of filing.

PCS
Ohio’s preliminary insured property loss estimates, according to Property Claim Services are as follows:

Total claims: 10,300
Total insured losses: $57,780,000
Homeowners: 8,700 claims $51.5 million
Auto: 900 claims $2.03 million
Commercial: 700 claims $4.25 million

Source: OII