State estimates Hurricane Milton claims have risen by another $100M

Milton doubles the previous single-day record for tornadoes in South Florida.

The reported value of insurance claims due to Hurricane Milton have climbed another $100 million.

The Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) has been keeping a running tally of claims made since the storm slammed the Gulf Coast on Oct. 9 and crossed the peninsula before exiting into the Atlantic Ocean on Oct. 10. There is now a total of $3.448 billion in Florida insurance claims due to Milton.

That’s the figure racked up as of Dec. 11, and it is a jump of more than $100 million from the figure posted just before Thanksgiving Day, when there was a total of $3.334 billion in claims due to the storm. OIR posts the figures for hurricane insurance claims on its website that keeps tabs on Catastrophic Claims Data and Reporting.

There have been a total of 313,547 insurance claims filed in the Sunshine State due to Milton. That’s an increase from the last state report of 302,581. Out of the latest number of claims, 248,812 are residential property claims and 14,805 are commercial property claims.

The state regulatory agency stopped posting new figures for Hurricane Helene claims on Nov. 18. But that storm, which hit Florida’s Big Bend area Sept. 26 before plowing inland and wreaking havoc on Georgia, the Carolinas and Tennessee, prompted $1.99 billion in property insurance claims in the state.

Helene led to 135,505 total claims in the state after it hit. Some 60,843 were residential property filings. Another 4,342 commercial property claims were attributed to Helene.

Combined, the two storms which ripped through Florida within two weeks of each other racked up a staggering total of $5.324 billion in estimated insurance claim costs this year.

Adding estimated insurance claims from Hurricane Debby, which hit the Big Bend area on Aug. 8, brings in another $130.996 million in damages through insurance claims in the state. The total hurricane damage estimated through insurance claims this year amounts to $5.455 billion.