Industry loss compiler Property Claims Services (PCS) has declared Q3 2014 the quietest third quarter in the past ten years. PCS designated six catastrophe events between July and September, totalling $1.2 billion in insured losses. The frequency of PCS-designated catastrophe events was 22% below the 10-year average of 7.7 for the quarter. The most active third quarter of the past 10 years was in 2008, when eleven events occurred.
The largest catastrophe event of the past quarter was a mid-August wind and thunderstorm event that struck Maryland, Michigan, and New York. The windstorm caused more than $500 million in insured losses and accounted for approximately 40% of the quarter's insured losses. Two Canadian events during the third quarter caused insured losses of C$553 million. The events happened in Ontario and Alberta, Canada's most catastrophe-prone provinces.
US catastrophe losses have topped $13.6 billion in insured losses in the first nine months of the year, up 13.2% from the same period in 2013, although this too is below the 10-year average of $18.7 billion.