Fact file: Georgia hurricane insurance

September 2018

  • Four of the ten most costly hurricanes to hit the United States caused insured property damage in Georgia: Hurricane Irma in 2017, Hurricane Katrina in 2005; Hurricane Ivan in 2004, Hurricane Hugo in 1989, and Hurricane Frances in 2004.
  • Georgia has a residual market plan that acts as a market of last resort for residential and commercial property insurance in the state. The plan had 19,948 habitational and business policies in fiscal year 2017, down from 22,844 policies in fiscal year 2016. Exposure to loss under the plan was $2.6 billion in 2017, down from $3.0 billion in 2016.
  • There were 88,803 flood insurance policies in Georgia in 2017. Standard homeowners policies typically do not cover flood damage. Flood insurance is covered by the National Flood Insurance Program.
  • The insured value of properties in coastal areas of Georgia totaled $109 billion in 2015, accounting for 5 percent of the state’s total insured property exposure, according to an analysis by AIR Worldwide.
  • Between 9,000 and 153,000 single-family homes are at risk of damage from storm surge in Georgia, according to CoreLogic.  In terms of reconstruction costs, storm surge damage would range from $2.7 billion to $33.8 billion.  The ranges reflect the intensity of hurricanes, with the lower range corresponding to a weak hurricane and the highest range reflecting damage from a rare Category 5 hurricane.

Top 10 Writers Of Commercial Insurance In Georgia By Direct Premiums Written, 2018 (1)

 

Rank Group/company Direct premiums written ($000) Market share
1 Travelers Companies Inc. $505,436 5.9%
2 Liberty Mutual 420,356 4.9
3 Chubb 392,983 4.6
4  American International Group (AIG) 347,528 4.1
5 Berkshire Hathaway Inc. 331,821 3.9
6 Zurich 282,823 3.3
7 Auto-Owners Insurance 268,787 3.2
8 CNA 264,187 3.1
9 AmTrust Financial 228,267 2.7
10 Nationwide Mutual Group 208,482 2.4

(1) Before reinsurance transactions.

Source: NAIC data, sourced from S&P Global Market Intelligence, Insurance Information Institute.

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Top 10 Writers Of Homeowners Insurance In Georgia By Direct Premiums Written, 2018 (1)

 

Rank Group/company Direct premiums written ($000) Market share
1 State Farm $893,527 26.7%
2 Allstate Corp. 404,296 12.1
3 USAA 360,968 10.8
4 Travelers 196,370 5.9
5 Liberty Mutual 192,380 5.7
6 Auto-Owners Insurance 153,473 4.6
7 Farmers Insurance Group of Companies 136,241 4.1
8 Georgia Farm Bureau 115,188 3.4
9 Nationwide 100,400 3.0
10 COUNTRY Financial 89,984 2.7

(1) Before reinsurance transactions.

Source: NAIC data, sourced from S&P Global Market Intelligence, Insurance Information Institute.

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Top 10 Writers Of Private Passenger Auto Insurance In Georgia By Direct Premiums Written, 2018 (1)

 

Rank Group/company Direct premiums written ($000) Market share
1 State Farm  $2,034,291 21.6%
2 Progressive  1,231,733 13.1
3 Berkshire Hathaway Inc.  1,222,221 13.0
4 Allstate Corp.  878,649 9.3
5 USAA  807,797 8.6
6 Liberty Mutual  341,971 3.6
7 Travelers Companies Inc.  304,654 3.2
8 Auto-Owners Insurance  296,490 3.2
9 Georgia Farm Bureau  262,559 2.8
10 Nationwide  221,170 2.4

(1) Before reinsurance transactions.

Source: NAIC data, sourced from S&P Global Market Intelligence, Insurance Information Institute.

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Top 10 Costliest Hurricanes In The United States (1)

($ millions)

        Estimated insured loss
Rank Date Location Hurricane Dollars when occurred In 2018 dollars (2)
1 Aug. 25-30, 2005 AL, FL, GA, LA, MS, TN Hurricane Katrina $41,100 $51,882
2 Sep. 19-22, 2017 PR, USVI Hurricane Maria (3) 25,000-30,000 25,600-30,700
3 Sep. 6-12, 2017 AL, FL, GA, NC, PR, SC, UV Hurricane Irma (3) 22,000-27,000 22,500-27,600
4 Aug. 25-Sep. 1, 2017 AL, LA, MS, NC, TN, TX Hurricane Harvey (3) 18,000-20,000 18,400-20,400
5 Oct. 28-31, 2012 CT, DC, DE, MA, MD, ME, NC, NH,
NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, VA, VT, WV		 Hurricane Sandy 18,750 20,688
6 Aug. 24-26, 1992 FL, LA Hurricane Andrew 15,500 25,404
7 Sep. 12-14, 2008 AR, IL, IN, KY, LA, MO, OH, PA, TX Hurricane Ike 12,500 14,631
8 Oct. 10-12, 2018 AL, FL, GA, MD, NC, SC, VA Hurricane Michael (3) 8,000-13,000 8,000-13,000
9 Oct. 24, 2005 FL Hurricane Wilma 10,300 13,002
10 Aug. 13-14, 2004 FL, NC, SC Hurricane Charley 7,475 9,729

(1) Property losses only. Excludes flood damage covered by the federally administered National Flood Insurance Program. Ranked on dollars when occurred. As of November 20, 2019.
(2) Adjusted for inflation through 2018 by the Insurance Information Institute using the GDP implicit price deflator.
(3) Insurance Information Institute estimate based on data from catastrophe risk modelers, reinsurance companies, the Property Claims Services unit of Verisk Analytics, the Federal Emergency Management Agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation. These estimates are preliminary because the organizations involved periodically resurvey the events, and the severity of losses and other factors create a high level of uncertainty surrounding the ultimate loss figures.

Source: Insurance Information Institute, catastrophe risk modelers, reinsurance companies, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, the Property Claim Services® (PCS®) unit of ISO®, a Verisk Analytics® company, and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

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Estimated Value Of Insured Coastal Properties Vulnerable To Hurricanes By State, 2015 (1)

($ billions)

Rank State Commercial Residential Total Coastal Total exposure (2) Coastal as a percent of total
1 New York  $2,093 $1,272 $3,365 $5,571 68%
2 Florida  1,483 1,718 3,200 4,058 79
3 Virginia  92 106 1,993 2,078 10
4 Texas  725 638 1,363 5,358 28
5 Massachusetts  441 511 953 1,765 54
6 New Jersey  373 422 795 2,453 32
7 Connecticut  290 385 675 1,025 64
8 Louisiana  182 147 329 896 38
9 South Carolina  112 126 239 931 26
10 Maine  73 111 184 321 53
11 North Carolina  69 109 178 2,014 8
12 Alabama  63 65 128 1,014 13
13 Georgia  53 56 109 2,171 5
14 Delaware  34 59 93 241 29
15 New Hampshire  32 42 74 328 23
16 Mississippi  36 35 71 527 14
17 Rhode Island  25 46 71 241 22
18 Maryland  8 10 18 1,476 1
  All states above  $6,184 $5,858 $13,838 $32,468 38%
  Total, United States $6,184 $5,858 $13,838 NA 16%

(1) Includes residential and commercial Gulf and East Coast properties, as of December 31, 2015. Ranked by value of total insured coastal property.
(2) Total exposure is an estimate of the actual total value of all property in the state that is insured or can be insured, including the full replacement value of structures and their contents, additional living expenses and the time value of business interruption coverage.

NA=Data not available.

Source: AIR Worldwide.

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Other Resources

I.I.I. Facts & Stats: Flood Insurance

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