It Figures

$28.2 Million

The Ohio Insurance Institute (OII) has reported that the amount of insured losses from a series of storms in February will be at least $28.2 million, with 12,173 claims filed so far across the state. Losses are expected to rise as more claims come in. February was unusually harsh for Ohio, bringing record snowfalls to many parts of the state. Three major winter outbreaks affected states throughout the Midwest and Atlantic Coast on Feb. 4-6, Feb. 9-11 and Feb. 23-28. On Feb. 13, the National Weather Service reported that every state had snow on the ground, with the exception of Hawaii. Twenty-five property/casualty insurance companies participated in the OII February winter storms loss survey. They represent 67 percent of Ohio’s personal auto market, about 78 percent of the homeowners’ insurance market and almost 28 percent of Ohio’s commercial lines market based on 2008 Ohio premium volume. Insurance company claims estimates ranged from no losses to 3,250 claims. Losses reported by companies varied from none to more than $8 million. About 92 percent of the claims filed as of mid-April pertain to homeowners or renters insurance. About 3 percent of the claims pertain to auto insurance. Commercial losses, based on 616 claims, amounted to about $2.9 million.

87

As of March 31, 2010, Missouri Labor Department’s Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) reported that it had referred 87 fraud and noncompliance cases to the state attorney general since the beginning of the year. That number is more than double the number of workers’ compensation violations referred during the same time period in 2009. From Jan. 1, 2009, to March 31, 2009, the department’s DWC referred 39 cases to the AG for prosecution. The increase in referrals is attributed to the combination of the division’s efforts enhance its ability to analyze more cases and the fact that employers are likely to cut coverage during hard economic times. For the last five years, approximately 80 percent of the cases referred to the attorney general involved noncompliance – the failure of an employer to carry workers’ compensation coverage. Of the 87 cases referred to the attorney general so far in 2010, 67 involved noncompliance, 17 involved fraud by an employer or insurer (e.g. failure to report an injury that occurred), and three involved fraud by employees.

Topics Claims Workers' Compensation Ohio