Lightning Flash: Quantifying a Complex and Expensive Hazard to Support Resilience

By Loretta L. Worters, Vice President, Media Relations, Triple-I

Historically, fire has been the main risk associated with the danger of lightning strikes. But as urban density increases and society’s reliance on electrical and electronic devices increases, the damage caused by lightning can be much more significant than the average home or business owner realizes.

According to a Triple-I analysis of State Farm data compiled to coincide with Lightning Safety Awareness Week (June 18-24), $952 million in U.S. homeowners insurance claims were paid in 2022 caused by lightning to more than 62,000 insured. There was good news in the data, including:

• The total value of US homeowners insurance claims caused by lightning fell more than 27 percent in 2022 ($952 million) from 2021 ($1.3 billion).

• The number of U.S. homeowners insurance claims caused by lightning only increased slightly, by 2.2 percent between 2021 and 2022 from 60,851 to 62,189, with numbers from the top 10 claim states contributing about half of the total.

• The average cost per loss caused by lightning decreased by 29%, from $21,578 in 2021 to $15,280 in 2022.

“Insurers are moving toward loss prediction and prevention by advocating for resiliency in coordination with the application of real-time technology,” said Triple-I CEO Sean Kevelighan. “Lightning Safety Awareness Week highlights the dangers lightning poses to life and property and how insurers and policyholders are reducing these risks.”

Homes aren’t the only structures at risk of lightning damage. In a recent interview with Kevelighan, Tim Harger, executive director of the Lightning Protection Institute, said an East Coast furniture maker suffered “just over a million dollars in damage” when it was struck.

“Yes, there was the typical fire that caused structural damage, but what hit ‘inside’ was even more expensive,” he said. “They had damaged inventory, production downtime and lost revenue during repairs.”

Investing in a lightning protection system could have saved this entrepreneur, and his insurer, the lost $1 million and prevented business interruption.

“When it comes to protecting homes, businesses or critical facilities in communities, we know that a properly installed lighting protection system is scientifically proven to mitigate lightning damage,” Harger said.

While cities have problems with lightning, so do parts of the country where lightning-spurred wildfires are significant. According to the Congressional Research Service, the majority of wildfires are caused by humans (89 percent of the average number of wildfires from 2018 to 2022). However, wildfires caused by lightning tend to be slightly larger and burn more acres (53 percent of the average acreage burned between 2018 and 2022) than human-ignited fires.

Lead Lightning Losses in Florida, Georgia, Texas, and California

Unsurprisingly, Florida, the state with the most thunderstorms, remained the state with the most lightning claims in 2022, with 5,504, followed by Georgia, with 4,474. California, however, had the average cost per highest claim, at $36,319, followed by Texas, at $25,286.

Damage caused by lightning, such as fire, is covered by standard homeowners insurance policies. Some homeowners policies provide coverage for surges that are the direct result of a lightning strike.