Insured losses from Huricane Sandy could match or even exceed the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, according to Willis Chairman and CEO Joe Plumeri.

While most estimates have placed insured losses at $US7-15 billion ($6.7-14.5 billion), Mr Plumeri says the insurance industry should expect at least $US30 billion ($28.8 billion) in claims from the super-storm, which affected a large, densely populated area from Toronto in Canada to west of the Great Lakes.

Last week modelling company AIR Worldwide estimated insured losses to onshore properties in the US of $US7-15 billion ($6.7-14.5 billion), while Eqecat put insured losses at $US5-10 billion ($4.8-$9.6 billion) and total economic damages at $US10-20 billion ($9.6-$19.3 billion).

“What happens is after there is a catastrophe there are lot of different companies that come out with estimates,” Mr Plumeri said. “They are low after a catastrophe and then they tend to grow. Every day it has crept up. There is a narrow gap now between economic losses and insured losses.

“The economic losses are now (estimated) at $US50 billion ($48.06 billion) which means that the insured losses are not far behind, probably in the $US30 to $US50 billion range.

“As time goes on that number will probably go up because you start to find things that you didn’t see before [when] you start to clean up the debris; you start to see business interruption and environmental contamination. This is a big deal.”

Hurricane Katrina cost insurers $US41.1 billion ($39.5 billion) in 2005 and is the most destructive storm in US history.