United Fire expects losses from storms

Claims from a spate of spring storms are expected to reduce second-quarter earnings for United Fire Group.

The Cedar Rapids insurer issued a statement late Tuesday saying it expects more than 1,500 claims for storms that occurred from Montana to Texas to New Jersey.

United Fire said its second- quarter results likely will include pre-tax catastrophe losses - net of reinsurance - of approximately $20 million to $23 million. The estimated impact on second-quarter earnings will be 51 cents to 59 cents per share, after tax.

'Over the last 10 years, catastrophe losses for the second quarter have had an average impact of 8.8 percentage points on the combined ratio,” said Randy Ramlo, United Fire president and CEO, in a statement.

'The impact of these storms will cause us to exceed that average for the quarter. Though none of the individual storms had a material impact on our earnings, the aggregate of storms during the quarter is significant.”

Ramlo said United Fire adjusters employed advanced technology to contact potential victims of the storm, often before the policyholders had an opportunity to call in a claim.

United Fire writes property and casualty insurance as well as life insurance and sells annuities.