1. In the days immediately following
hurricane Andrew's deadly visit to South Florida, Allstate Insurance
hastily dispatched more than 2,000 extra claim adjusters to the devastated
area to assist the 200 stationed there. Many of the reserves arrived in
convoys of motor homes. Others flew in state rushed to set up its own
communications system. Allstate expects to pay out '1.2 billion to cover
more than 121,000 damage claims as a result of Andrew.
All told, U.S. property and casualty insurers have been hit with more than
'8 billion in Andrew related claims, making the hurricane the most costly
single calamity to strike the industry since the San Francisco earthquake
and fire in 1906(cost:'6 billion, after inflation). With claims continuing
to pour in, Andrew threatens to take a painful toll on the already
battered property casualty insurance industry and its 100 million policy
holders. The final bill, analysts predict, is likely to top '10 billion,
While most well capitalized insurers are expected to weather the storm,
less anchored firms are in danger of being blown away, leaving U.S.
consumers stuck with the tab. Says Sean Mooney digs itself out from the
wreckage left by Andrew. Some [companies] will be buried by it."
Hurricane Andrew is the latest in a string of mishaps to plague the
American insurance industry this year. In April an overflowing Chicago
River flooded the city's downtown district, costing insurers '300 million
in claims. A month later, Los Angeles was rocked by the worst civilian
riot in the U.S. since the Civil War. The insurance toll: '1 billion. Then
came a series of major hailstorms in Texas, Florida and Kansas. They cost
insurers a combined '700 million. And two weeks after Andrew, another
lethal hurricane, Iniki, smashed into Hawaii, causing '1.4 billion in
damages. In all, property and casualty insurers have paid out a record '13
billion in claims so far this year, far surpassing the previous high of
'7.6 billion in 1989, the year of Hurricane Hugo and California's Bay Area
earthquake. Just as in that year when those catastrophes were followed by
substantial increases in insurance premiums, insurers are already lobbying
for rate relief.
1). According to the passage, "Allstate Insurance" most likely refers to
_____.
A. one of the property and casualty insurers in the U.S.
B. the only insurance company responsible for the damage claims by Andrew
C. the insurance industry as a whole
D. the biggest insurance company in the U.S.
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