It Figures

$6.5 Billion

Amount U.S. property casualty insurers are expected to pay homeowners and businesses for property losses last year from 23 catastrophes — the eighth lowest cost in a decade, according to Insurance Services Office. Forty-one states were affected by a catastrophe last year, defined as an event causing $25 million or more in insured property losses, and affecting a significant number of policyholders and underwriters. California sustained the largest loss at $1.23 billion, about $1.1 billion of which stemmed from the wildfire in San Diego County.

$2.4 Billion

Estimate of what it will cost three former lead paint manufacturers to pay to clean up 250,000 homes in Rhode Island. That amount was ordered two years ago in a landmark public nuisance lawsuit brought by the attorney general. The three companies, Sherwin-Williams Co., NL Industries Inc. and Millennium Holdings, called the proposal legally flawed and asked a superior court judge to throw out all or parts of the plan. He refused. Public health experts will now review the clean-up plan and make recommendations.

$995,000

Amount of settlement paid by Allstate Insurance Co. to a Brooklyn couple who claimed their house was badly damaged by vibrations caused by an Air France Concorde jet nearly five years ago. The couple, John and Annette Ferranti, sued after Allstate refused to pay for damage to their 12-room concrete and steel house created by vibrations from an Air France Concorde as it took off from John F. Kennedy airport on July 21, 2002. They initially won a $1.15 million verdict against Allstate last month after a trial in Manhattan’s state Supreme Court, but settled after the company said it would appeal.

300

Number of communities nationwide that employ camera systems to catch red-light runners, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. A bill recently passed the New Jersey legislature, would allow Ocean State communities to install them, joining the ranks of major cities such as Philadelphia, New York and Baltimore, which already use the once-rare devices.