Hurricane Isaac will take a larger toll on primary property insurance carriers rather than reinsurers, Standard & Poor’s said Friday.
Still, the ratings giant doesn’t believe the situation will impact the industry’s overall creditworthiness.
“Additional loss due to flooding will be covered mostly by the National Flood Insurance Program,” S&P concluded.
With primary insurers usually retaining greater property catastrophe risk at lower loss levels, they will take the biggest hit, the ratings firm suggested.
And if there are any ratings changes at property and casualty insurers, it is unlikely to be impactful, S&P added.
Flood insurance has been a hot topic in Congress, with lawmakers recently passing a five-year extension to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).
The program provides affordable flood insurance to millions of homeowners living in at-risk areas.
CoreLogic (CLGX) estimated earlier this week that Hurricane Isaac would put approximately 269,000 homes at risk.
