Monday, March 3, 2014

The cost of winter

Roof collapses and auto accidents, downed tree limbs and power lines, business interruption and supply chain losses: Old Man Winter has packed a punch this year. And just think; winter is not officially over until March 19th!

An estimated $1.5 billion of insured losses already have been attributed to this season's weather. This figure, reported by the Insurance Information Institute, is an estimate from PCS, a division of Verisk Analytics, that covers events occurring between January 1 and February 21, 2014 with more than 175,000 claims paid to policyholders. As the $1.5 billion figure includes only two of the four 2014 winter storms to date, it is certain that the final tally will prove significantly larger.

Insured losses from winter was $2 billion in 2013, and the final total for 2014 is certain to exceed that figure. It is expected that the 2014 winter will enter the record books among the top five costliest since 1980.

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