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Home insurers in Florida have denied tens of thousands of claims made by property owners over damages caused by Hurricanes Helene and Milton, according to data compiled by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (FLOIR).
As of Friday, 19,068 residential claims made over Hurricane Helene were closed without payment out of a total of 57,415. As of Monday, 27,834 of residential claims linked to damages caused by Hurricane Milton were closed without payment, out of a total of 202,989. In both cases, the number of denied claims outweighed the number of claims closed with payment.
While FLOIR doesn't include an explanation of why these claims were denied, it's likely that these claims were not meeting the deductible—the amount policyholders are expected to pay before the insurance plan starts to pay—or they weren't covered by the homeowner's insurance policy. Another possibility is that policyholders making the claims could not be reached by the insurance company.
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Mark Friedlander, director of corporate communications at the Insurance Information Institute, previously told Newsweek that most likely, the denied claims are "primarily flood claims that are not covered by a standard property insurance, condo insurance or flood insurance policy. You need flood insurance to cover a flood claim," he added.
Residential claims made the better part of most claims made over both hurricanes in Florida, which included claims for commercial property, private flood, business interruption, and commercial and private car insurance.
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FLOIR's data show that Florida homeowners, already hit by skyrocketing premiums in the past few years, have likely received another blow when the two hurricanes hit the states' Gulf Coast between late September and early October, spreading devastation in the region within less than two weeks.
While the damages caused by Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton are still being fully assessed, FLOIR estimates the total estimated insured losses to reach a total of $1,437,491,638 for Hurricane Helene and of $2,878,981,114 for Hurricane Milton.
How many claims haven't been paid?
Hurricane Helene
As of October 25, there have been a total of 127,066 claims made with Florida insurers in connection to damages caused by Hurricane Helene, according to FLOIR. Of these, 57,415 have been residential claims.
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So far, 23,450 of all claims have been closed without payment, the vast majority of which—19,068—affected residential property claims. By comparison, a total of 29,373 have been closed with payment, including 10,460 residential claims.
Hurricane Milton
As of October 28, there have been 253,452 claims reported to Florida insurers linked to damages caused by Hurricane Milton. Of these, 202,989 have been residential claims.
In this case, the number of claims closed without payment—32,016—is slightly higher than the number of claims closed with payment—28,088. When it comes to residential claims, 27,834 have been closed without payment, while 17,076 have been closed with payment.
Newsweek contacted FLOIR for comment by email on Tuesday morning.
Do you live in Florida and have had an insurance claim rejected by your home insurer? Contact g.carbonaro@newsweek.com.
About the writer
Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on the U.S. economy, housing market, property ... Read more