Insurers come through Leslie unscathed

WEDNESDAY, SEP. 12: Tropical Storm Leslie turned out to be a “non-event” for local insurers.

The storm was originally forecast to be a hurricane, which would be a direct hit on Bermuda, but it turned eastward and was downgraded to a tropical storm sparing the island from much heavier damage.

Both Argus and BF&M had two claims each while Freisenbruch-Meyer Group had three. Colonial Insurance did not reply by press time.

William Madeiros, executive vice president and general manager at FMG, said: “We dodged the worst of it. We had three claims reported to us, all of which despite having caused inconvenience to our clients, I’m pleased to say none of which are of a significant nature.

“Thankfully we weren’t looking at a full bore Category 2 that sat on top of us. Nonetheless we still had a really good blow, but people made a point of bringing their furniture in and putting their shutters up, clearing paid dividends so we’re very, very pleased.”

He said FMG has not been out to all three properties and by the time it is examined the deductibles are taken into account, there may not end up being any claims.

John Wight, BF&M president and CEO, told the Bermuda Sun, “We dodged a bullet, there’s no doubt about it. All we have is two claims and they are both minor in nature so for all intents and purposes it was a non-event.”

He said the amount to be paid out could literally just be hundreds of dollars.

“We are so very fortunate the storm took the track that it did and virtually no damage done to the island.”

John Doherty, executive vice president of property and casualty at Argus, said: “TS Leslie was a non-event in claims terms, with next to no calls to Argus in the aftermath.”

The insurance companies picked up some business last week as customers phoned to make sure their premiums were up to date and those that were behind got caught up while other customers upped their coverage just to make sure they would not get caught flat-footed if Leslie had done more damage.