Louisiana is all too familiar with the major amount of damage that hurricanes can deal out. However, hurricanes are far from the only storms that can pose significant property risks. For example, it can be important to not underestimate the harm that can be caused by thunderstorms. A recent report underscores how big of losses can come from these storms.
The report looked at the property losses caused by severe convective storms (including thunderstorms) in the U.S. from 2003 to 2015. According to the report, these storms caused an average annual loss of $11.23 billion over this period. Such storms were more or less on par with hurricanes over this period when it comes to losses. Hurricanes caused an average annual loss of $11.28 billion.
Given the high losses thunderstorms and similar storms can cause, how frequently such storms arise in a given area can be very impactful on insurance companies that provide policies in that area. One wonders what level of thunderstorm activity Louisiana will see in the next few years.
Also, the potential of thunderstorms to cause considerable damage means that the thunderstorm-related claims property insurers receive can have a rather high dollar amount attached to them. So, what happens in disputes over these types of claims (such as disputes arising out of a denial of such a claim) could have significant financial ramifications for an insurer. Louisiana insurers can go to lawyers experienced in insurance defense for guidance on handling disputes regarding property insurance claims related to storms.
Source: Business Insurance, “Severe storms rival hurricanes in property losses: Study,” Gloria Gonzalez, March 20, 2017