Fact file: Pennsylvania hurricane insurance

JULY 2020

  • Pennsylvania was one of over a dozen states impacted by Hurricane Sandy in October 2012. Sandy caused $18.8 billion in U.S. property losses, excluding flood insurance claims covered by the federal flood insurance program, according to estimates from ISO’s PCS unit. Sandy was the fifth most costly U.S. hurricane, after hurricanes Katrina, Maria, Irma and Harvey.
  • Sandy resulted in $700 million in private insurance claims in Pennsylvania. At $9.6 billion and $6.3 billion, respectively, New York and New Jersey suffered the largest private insurance losses by far from Sandy.
  • Pennsylvania was one of 14 states impacted by Hurricane Irene in August 2011. Irene impacted a total of 14 states, causing a total of $4.3 billion in insured property damage, not including flood losses covered under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), according to ISO. The NFIP puts its claims payouts from Irene at $1.3 billion (in all states).
  • There were 55,445 flood insurance policies in Pennsylvania in 2018. Standard homeowners policies typically do not cover flood damage. Flood insurance is covered by the National Flood Insurance Program.

 

Top 10 Writers Of Commercial Insurance In Pennsylvania By Direct Premiums Written, 2019 (1)

 

Rank Group/company Direct premiums written ($000) Market share
1 Travelers Companies Inc. $775,483 6.0%
2 Erie Insurance Group 677,820 5.2
3 Liberty Mutual 614,777 4.7
4 Chubb 614,067 4.7
5 Zurich 570,983 4.4
6 CNA 418,663 3.2
7 American International Group (AIG) 416,525 3.2
8 Nationwide Mutual Group 353,714 2.7
9 Berkshire Hathaway Inc. 344,286 2.7
10 Selective 298,270 2.3

(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 Pennsylvania By Direct Premiums Written, 2019 (1)

 

Rank Group/company Direct premiums written ($000) Market share
1 State Farm $607,312 17.3%
2 Erie Insurance Group 543,994 15.5
3 Allstate Corp. 459,033 13.0
4 Liberty Mutual 297,776 8.5
5 Nationwide Mutual Group 256,424 7.3
6 Travelers Companies Inc. 231,865 6.6
7 USAA Insurance Group 152,190 4.3
8 Chubb 108,540 3.1
9 Farmers Insurance Group 88,961 2.5
10 Donegal Insurance Group 67,849 1.9

(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 Pennsylvania By Direct Premiums Written, 2019 (1)

 

Rank Group/company Direct premiums written ($000) Market share
1 State Farm $1,712,794 18.6%
2 Erie Insurance 1,241,764 13.5
3 Progressive 1,056,385 11.5
4 Allstate Corp. 1,034,806 11.2
5 Berkshire Hathaway Inc. 810,863 8.8
6 Nationwide 681,512 7.4
7 Liberty Mutual 470,153 5.1
8 USAA 336,597 3.7
9 Travelers 320,846 3.5
10 Farmers Insurance 208,061 2.3

(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 2019 dollars (2)
1 Aug. 25-30, 2005 AL, FL, GA, LA, MS, TN Hurricane Katrina $41,100 $52,828
2 Sep. 19-22, 2017 PR, USVI Hurrican Maria (3) 25,000-30,000 26,100-31,300
3 Sep. 6-12, 2017 AL, FL, GA, NC, PR, SC, UV Hurricane Irma (3) 25,000-30,000 26,100-31,300
4 Aug. 25-Sep. 1, 2017 AL, LA, MS, NC, TN, TX Hurricane Harvey (3) 18,000-20,000 18,800-20,800
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 21,065
6 Aug. 24-26, 1992 FL, LA Hurricane Andrew 15,500 25,867
7 Sep. 12-14, 2008 AR, IL, IN, KY, LA, MO, OH, PA, TX Hurricane Ike 12,500 20,861
8 Oct. 10-12, 2018 AL, FL, GA, MD, NC, SC, VA Hurricane Michael (3) 9,000-12,000 9,200-12,200
9 Oct. 24, 2005 FL Hurricane Wilma 10,300 13,239
10 Aug. 13-14, 2004 FL, NC, SC Hurricane Charley 7,475 9,906

(1) Property losses only. Excludes flood damage covered by the federally administered National Flood Insurance Program. Ranked on dollars when occurred. As of April 17,2020.
(2) Adjusted for inflation through 2019 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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Other Resources

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

I.I.I. Facts & Stats: Hurricanes

I.I.I. Issues Updates: Catastrophes

I.I.I. Issues Updates: Hurricane and Windstorm Deductibles

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