Florida insurance claims from Hurricanes Helene and Milton climb by $169M in past week

Insurance claims filed seeking help to recover from Hurricanes Helene and Milton rose by $169 million in the past week in Florida.

The Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) reports there has been $4.775 billion in insurance claims filed by Florida residents who were victims of the storms. That’s up from the Nov. 1 figure of $4.606 billion.

Helene slammed the Big Bend area on Sept. 26, and Milton plowed into the Gulf Coast on Oct. 9 before crossing the peninsula and exiting into the Atlantic Ocean on Sept. 10.

Milton, which caused more extensive damage statewide, is now estimated to have a total insured loss of $3.038 billion dollars as of Nov. 8. That’s up by $35 million over the Nov. 1 report from the OIR, which had $3.003 billion for Hurricane Milton insurance claims filed.

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

There have been 283,298 insurance claims filed in Florida attributed to Milton. That’s up from the 269,317 filed the week before. Out of that, some 225,477 insurance claims as of Nov. 8 have been for residential property damage caused by the storm. Another 10,750 commercial property damage claims have been filed in the state due to Milton.

For Hurricane Helene, which careened into the Big Bend area before moving north and wreaking havoc on Georgia, the Carolinas and Tennessee, now has a total of $1.737 billion in damage from estimated insurance claims. That’s an increase from the $1.603 billion the week before.

Some 133,099 insurance claims have been filed by victims of Helene in the Sunshine State. That’s up from the Nov. 1 report, which noted there were 130,859 claims filed.

Out of those claims, 59,921 are residential property damage claims and 3,917 are commercial property damage claims.