How did the storms of 2004 differ from Hurricane Andrew, and how were claims handled differently?
Bailey: Hurricane Andrew resulted in more than 700,000 claims with a value in current dollars of $21 billion. The industry had an average of 17,000 adjusters on the ground (a total of 25,000, including rotations) and settled 90 percent of those claims in six months. By comparison, the four hurricanes of 2004 produced an estimated 1.7 million claims in Florida alone, (more than 2.15 million overall) with an estimated value of $21.5 billion. Approximately 8,000 total claims adjusters have resolved more than 1.3 million of those claims in Florida. The storm with the most claims was Hurricane Charley. A little more than three months later, the industry had resolved nearly 90 percent of Charley-related claims. The settlements from the other three hurricanes were proceeding at the same pace. Twice as many claims were settled in half the time, by half the complement of adjusters. How? By using the latest technology to open claim files, gather the information necessary to resolve the claim, se
