Liberty Mutual Estimates Up to $900M in Losses From Helene and Milton

Liberty Mutual Insurance said it expects up to $900 million in losses from hurricanes Helene and Milton.

Parent Liberty Mutual Holding Company (LMHC) in a statement released some preliminary third quarter information “in support of a potential capital markets transaction.”

Related: Universal, AmCoastal Report Some Costs from Helene, Milton for Q3

Estimated losses from Hurricane Helene, which struck Florida and affected many southeastern states late in September – within the third quarter – are expected to be about $550 million, pretax.

Liberty Mutual also put a pretax catastrophe loss range of between $250 million and $350 million from Hurricane Milton, to be reflected in the fourth quarter.

Related: Florida’s Heritage Insurance Reports 5,400 Claims, $57M in Cat Losses From Milton

Q3 Net income is estimated to be about $900 million, and $3 billion for the year as of the end of Q3, Liberty Mutual said. A year ago at the Q3 mark, LMHC recorded net income of $219 million for the quarter and an income loss of $441 million for the year.

Net written premiums for Q3 2024 will be about $12 billion, and $34 billion for the year as of September 30. The mutual insurer said it expects a Q3 combined ratio of 97.

Related: Claims from Hurricane Milton Continue to Rise in Florida — 221K and Counting

The estimated loss total are based on actual claims and modeled results, the Boston-based insurer said. It caused that the final amounts of losses aren’t known and may differ from the estimates.