Nothing Like It; Insurance claims after Katrina are reaching unseen sights in Louisiana, with about $18 billion paid out so far and much more to come
Times-Picayune (New Orleans)
February 5, 2006

Average flood losses from Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana are running at $101,018 per claim, nearly six times the average loss for previous flood disasters.

And so far the U.S. government-backed National Flood Insurance Program, which is administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, has paid out a staggering $10.1 billion to homeowners in Louisiana.

To put it in perspective, that $10.1 billion is nearly half of all the money paid out on last year's hurricane flood claims, and five times the $2 billion in flood payout from the four hurricanes that pummeled Florida in 2004.

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Joanne Doroshow, co-founder of a coalition of consumer groups called Americans for Insurance Reform, said the real question is how many claims were settled with a denial saying that all the damage was caused by flooding instead of a combination of the wind storm and the levee breaches, and how many of the still-pending claims will end up in court over low-balling of repair estimates.

"What we don't know is how many people are going to have to get a lawyer to figure out what they believe to be denials of claims or low-balling," Doroshow said.

For a copy of the complete article, contact AIR.