First and foremost, our hearts go out to those dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Ian which battered our home state of Florida last month before taking aim at the coast of South Carolina. 

 

As the fifth-strongest hurricane on record, comparable to Hurricanes Ida (2021) and Laura (2020), Hurricane Ian’s life-threatening winds, storm surge and flash flooding resulted in dozens of lives lost and billions of dollars in property loss and damage. We understand this was a life-changing event and there will be a long road to recovery for many of our policyholders, agency partners and team members. 

 

We assure you Centauri remains true to our mission "to be there when you need us, by having your interest in mind in everything we do." We provide more than adequate resources to respond to customers who have sustained losses, so we can process their claims promptly and efficiently. We treat them with the compassion and respect they deserve, especially when their lives have been disrupted by such a catastrophic event. 

 

Centauri team members were onsite at the Insurance Village in Ft. Myers after Hurricane Ian made landfall to assist policyholders and agents in the most impacted areas. We are proud of the efforts of our team and of the many partners who have supported our catastrophe response operations while keeping our day-to-day operations running smoothly. We share a common goal to help our policyholders begin the recovery process as quickly as possible while ensuring properties are restored back to their pre-loss condition while minimizing stress.

 

Not only was this a life-changing event for those in the path of the storm, but it was also a landscape changing event for the insurance industry in the Southeast which was already dealing with unprecedented losses from the 2020 and 2021 hurricane seasons. Carriers in our region are faced with a hardening reinsurance market and the continued development of loss trends primarily stemming from water and roofing losses. 

 

Over the past several years Centauri has been battle tested and we responded by tightening our belts and planning for the worst - unsure of what the industry’s reaction would be. We made a significant investment in reinsurance protection to protect us from worse-case events such as Hurricane Ian. We remain strategic, financially responsible, and nimble in the face of adversity after back-to-back storms. We are prepared to do what it takes to ensure the necessary resources are available to pay claims and protect our policyholders when they need us the most. This is our top priority.

 

We sincerely hope the remainder of 2022 is peaceful and uneventful as we all deal with this catastrophe and help our policyholders rebuild. We are in this together and honored to be a trusted carrier and partner.