Travelers Estimates $75 Million Loss from Hurricane Isabel

Travelers Property Casualty Corp. announced that its preliminary estimate for catastrophe losses resulting from Hurricane Isabel is approximately $75 million, after reinsurance and tax, based on approximately 33,000 claims reported through Oct. 2.

The estimate includes net losses of approximately $50 million in Personal Lines and $25 million in Commercial Lines. This is in addition to other catastrophe losses incurred in the quarter of approximately $12 million, after reinsurance and tax.

“The damage pattern of Hurricane Isabel seems to be similar to that of 1999’s Hurricane Floyd, which had a high frequency of claims but relatively low severity,” said Douglas Elliot, COO. “The storm cut a broad swath from North Carolina, through Virginia and into Pennsylvania and New York. In the hardest hit area, Virginia, our catastrophe response teams, including our four mobile claim vans, have been on scene starting on the day after the hurricane hit, and we have had more than 400 claim specialists in the affected areas helping our customers get their lives and businesses back on track.”

Given the level of catastrophes for the third quarter, management’s estimate of the range of full year net and operating income is being narrowed to $1.65 billion to $1.70 billion from the previous range of $1.65 billion to $1.75 billion.

The estimate is based on various assumptions, which include no further net charges for prior year reserve development, no asbestos incurrals, and, for the remainder of the year, a normal level of catastrophe losses and no significant net realized investment gains or losses.