ISO: P/C Carriers Paid Out Record $27.3B in 2004

U.S. property/casualty insurers paid a record $27.3 billion for insured property losses to homeowners and businesses from 22 catastrophic events last year - surpassing losses from 2001 that included the September 11 attack - according to estimates by ISO's Property Claim Services (PCS) unit. Over 80 percent of the insured losses were from the five hurricanes that made landfall in the U.S. along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. The last time back-to-back hurricanes struck the U.S. was in 1999, the year of hurricanes Bret, Dennis, Floyd, Irene and Lenny. Policyholders in 42 states and Puerto Rico...