Florida insurance claims from Hurricanes Helene and Milton near $5B

Delegation members tell the Department of Agriculture to hurry up with hurricane relief.

Estimated insurance claims as a result of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, which plowed into Florida within two weeks of each other, have increased more than $400 million in just the past week.

The Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) reports that as of Nov. 1, the reported insurance claims have now amounted to $4.606 billion in estimated damages.

The OIR has established a Catastrophic Claims Data and Reporting website that tracks the number of insurance claims and estimated dollar amounts in damage that have been filed. The total estimated tab from both storms has increased substantially since the Oct. 25 update, which estimated there were $4.285 billion in insurance claims from both storms in Florida.

Hurricane Milton, which careened into the Gulf Coast on Oct. 9, accounts for the larger portion of the estimated cost of insurance claims. According to the OIR, Milton’s insurance claims amount to $3.003 billion, up from $2.848 billion the previous week.

The number of insurance claims filed in Florida attributed to Milton has jumped nearly 10% in that time, with a total of 269,317 insurance claims compared to 247,432 total claims the previous week. That total figure includes 215,051 residential claims being filed as of Nov. 1, and 9,870 commercial property claims blamed on Milton.

OIR uses the Insurance Regulation Filing System to compile estimates and dollar costs for lost property estimates and other factors.

Hurricane Helene insurance claims went from an estimated $1.44 billion in insurance claims in the last full week of October to $1.603 billion on Nov. 1. There have been 130,859 insurance claims filed in the state attributed to Hurricane Helene, which pounded the Gulf Coast and Big Bend area on Sept. 26.

Helene residential property insurance claims now number 58,834, up from 57,415 the previous week. Commercial property insurance claims filed amount to 3,762 as of Nov. 1, up from 3,310 the previous week.