Happy Wednesday! In this week's Big I Buzz: Hurricane Milton caused private insured losses of about $36 billion. Plus, how to combat the growing threat of jewelry fraud.

KCC Expects Private Insured Losses of $36B From Hurricane Milton

Hurricane Milton resulted in an estimated $36 billion in private insured losses, according to catastrophe modeler Karen Clark & Co. (KCC). The estimate includes damages from wind, storm surge, and inland flooding, impacting personal, commercial, and industrial properties, vehicles, and business operations. Unlike Hurricane Helene, which also struck Florida's West Coast, most of Milton’s damage came from wind, leading to higher losses covered by private insurers, according to KCC. While both Milton and Helene were major hurricanes, Milton was at one point a Category 5 storm before wind shear weakened it to a Category 3, making landfall near Sarasota on October 9. Insured losses of $36 billion would make Milton one of the costliest insured-loss hurricanes ever. Read more here.

Combatting the Growing Threat of Jewelry Fraud

Jewelry fraud is on the rise in the United States, with over $1 billion worth of jewelry "disappearing" each year—accounting for 70% of all stolen property. Low premiums and easy access to jewelry policies make them an appealing target for fraudsters. Common tactics include misrepresentation during the application process, inflating the value of items, insuring counterfeit pieces as genuine, and other exaggerations of ownership and value. Insurance companies have specialized investigative units tasked with identifying these fraudulent claims. Investigators closely examine inconsistent documentation, discrepancies between valuations and sales prices, missing or unverifiable receipts, and patterns of frequent or suspicious claims. Read more here.

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