Paper looks at storm effects, claims handling from adjusters on-site and technology developments since 2005
Crawford® Issues Hurricane Katrina Whitepaper on Storm’s Ten-year Anniversary
ATLANTA (August 26, 2015) – Ten years ago this week Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast of the United States and the city of New Orleans, becoming the single largest insured loss event in history. To help understand how insurance claims were managed after the hurricane, Crawford & Company® is issuing the research whitepaper 10 Years after Hurricane Katrina: A Retrospective on Claims Handling. The paper summarizes the storm’s severity and losses, provides a personal perspective on how claims were handled on-site from adjusters who worked in the devastated New Orleans and surrounding areas, and it then goes on to examine how claims handling technology has evolved since 2005.
“A decade ago Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast with unprecedented ferocity. It displaced more than 1 million people, took more than 1,800 lives and created more than 1.7 million insurance claims worth more than $41 billion,” noted Vince Cole, Crawford chief executive officer, Property & Casualty – Americas. “10 Years after Hurricane Katrina helps frame the destructiveness of this event, and it provides a deeply personal, anecdotal look at how claims adjusters worked day and night for weeks to help the insured in a region of almost complete destruction.”
On August 28, at its peak intensity soon before hitting the Gulf Coast, Katrina’s hurricane-force winds extended 90 miles from its center, and tropical storm-force winds went out to 200 miles. Several days later it was clear that the epicenter of claims from the storm was in New Orleans, where storm surge and failure of levees led to catastrophic floods that deluged more than 75% of the city.
For Crawford®, Hurricane Katrina tested its extensive capabilities as it used the full resources of its U.S. adjusters, its Global Technical Services professionals and adjusters from Canada, the U.K & New Zealand to manage millions of dollars of claims. 10 Years after Hurricane Katrina tells the story of those adjusters and how their strategic planning, deep experience, creative thinking and intense dedication worked together to help them settle claims for those in need.
10 Years after Hurricane Katrina may be downloaded from Crawford’s website at https://www.
About Crawford®
Based in Atlanta, Ga., Crawford & Company® (www.crawfordandcompany.com) is the world’s largest independent provider of claims management solutions to the risk management and insurance industry as well as self-insured entities, with an expansive global network serving clients in more than 70 countries. The Crawford Solution(TM) offers comprehensive, integrated claims services, business process outsourcing and consulting services for major product lines including property and casualty claims management, workers compensation claims and medical management, and legal settlement administration. The Company’s shares are traded on the NYSE under the symbols CRD-A and CRD-B.
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