Florida counts 46,509 Isaias claims and $582 million in insured losses

The claims are concentrated in three Panhandle counties. Santa Rosa County accounts for 22,894 claims, Escambia 13,677 and Okaloosa 4,334, the state data showed. Homeowners claims make up most of the total: 35,014 claims carry $558.6 million of the insured damage. The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation data come from reports insurers are required to file on estimated and paid losses, and the report also covers business interruption, private passenger auto and commercial auto claims.

Insurance Journal rounded the total to about 47,000 claims, while the OIR figure reported by Yahoo News was 46,509; it reported that Escambia had almost 13,700 claims and that Santa Rosa had the most. Okaloosa and Walton together produced 6,061 claims, fewer than expected, even though the eye came ashore near Destin in Okaloosa.

Closed, but often unpaid

Closing a claim is not the same as paying one. By 15 October, 4,773 residential claims had been closed, and only 712 of those closed with a payment; 4,061 closed with nothing, the state data showed. The largest block of unpaid closures, 3,319, was logged under "administrative reasons," a new Florida Office of Insurance Regulation reporting category that covers duplicate claims, claims opened in error, incorrectly filed claims and policyholders who could not be reached.

Insurance Journal reported two more common reasons: damage below the deductible, and flood damage a homeowners policy does not cover. Keith Goolsby, an agent at The Siler Agency in Pensacola, said some policyholders filed after a tree came down, then found the tree had not hit the house, that removal was not covered, or that the claim fell under the deductible. Goolsby said one Pensacola-area policyholder will have a claim: a tree went through a roof and the house caught fire when power returned, destroying about half of it. Trees were down across the Panhandle, and some policyholders filed before they had checked the damage.

The state's request to FEMA

The DeSantis administration asked FEMA for about $237 million on 15 October for debris removal, public infrastructure and emergency protective measures in 15 Florida counties. Residents of eight counties could qualify for individual assistance, and preliminary assessments identified nearly 1,000 damaged residences across those eight counties, the state Division of Emergency Management said. Escambia County alone estimates about $64 million in repair, response and recovery costs. The division said it is still working with local, state and federal agencies to identify additional needs.

Damage assessments remain ongoing, said Stephanie Hartman, the division's communications director. Determining the full extent of storm-related damage and housing needs could take several months, she said. The state-led recovery effort is shifting from immediate response to debris removal, damage assessments and aid distribution across the Panhandle.

How the loss compares

Karen Clark & Co. has predicted about $3 billion in total insured losses across the Southeastern United States. Florida's count so far is $582 million. AM Best called Isaias an "earnings event" that will have little effect on insurers' surplus levels or financial stability, and Gallagher Re said the storm was small enough that it is unlikely to affect most carriers' reinsurance renewals.

The industry's comparison is Hurricane Sally, which hit nearly the same coast in 2020 and produced 72,000 claims and $577 million in losses within six weeks, Insurance Journal reported. Isaias made landfall near Destin on 9 October as a Category 2 hurricane and is blamed for six deaths in Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis said. The storm cut power to more than 400,000 customers at landfall. Over 20,000 customers remained without power on 14 October, mostly in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties, according to PowerOutage.com.