Dallas Hail Insured Loss Estimate Halved

Insured losses from last week's violent hailstorm in Dallas should be just under $1 billion, a trade group for Texas insurers said on Tuesday, sharply less than what another industry group estimated last week.

June 19, 2012

* ICT estimates losses of less than $1 bln

* SIIS had estimated up to $2 bln last week

* State Farm has 17,000 claims so far

June 19 - Insured losses from last week's violent hailstorm in Dallas should be just under $1 billion, a trade group for Texas insurers said on Tuesday, sharply less than what another industry group estimated last week.

The Insurance Council of Texas, via its spokesman's Twitter account, said losses should fall "just short of" $1 billion from the storm, which was the worst of its kind in the area in about nine years.

Last Friday, the Southwestern Insurance Information Service, which speaks for insurers in Texas and Oklahoma, preliminarily estimated losses at $1.5 billion to $2 billion.

Even with the lowered estimate, though, the Dallas storm will still rank as one of the larger hail losses ever. According to the Insurance Information Institute, hail storms typically cause about $1 billion in damage annually.

State Farm, the largest personal property insurer in Texas with more than a quarter of the market, said Tuesday it has received nearly 17,000 claims from the storm, about two-thirds for autos and the rest for homes.

USAA, the military-focused insurer that ranks in the top five in the state, said Tuesday it is up to about 5,000 claims.

(Reporting By Ben Berkowitzand Richard Chang)