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Lightning claim costs jump as surge damage drives higher severity
US insurers paid about $1.65 billion for lightning-related homeowners claims in 2025, up 59% from 2024, with average cost per claim rising 42.8% even as claim frequency increased 11.6%.
A severe storm system crossing the Midwest included a lightning strike at Ohio's Grafton Reintegration Center on Tuesday evening, injuring 16 incarcerated individuals and sending one person to a hospital by airlift, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said prison policy requires inmates to remain indoors during storms, but officers did not believe conditions indicated a lightning strike was imminent at the time. The incident highlights how lightning can create more than just visible damage, especially when insurers assess a loss that may extend beyond the strike point. Insurance Business notes that lightning is often treated as a secondary peril compared with wind, hail, or flooding, but its liability and injury risk has been climbing steadily in cost. U.S. insurers paid an estimated $1.65 billion in lightning-related homeowners insurance claims in 2025, up 59% from $1.04 billion in 2024, according to the Insurance Information Institute's annual lightning claims analysis. The increase was driven by severity, with claim frequency rising 11.6% from 55,537 to 61,986, while the average cost per claim jumped 42.8% from $18,637 to $26,616. The analysis also points to long term escalation, with the average lightning claim up 146.9% since 2017 from $10,781, reflecting the growing value of electronics and connected devices that can be damaged by a single surge event. State-level differences remain large, with Florida recording the most lightning-related claims in 2025 at 5,167, while Texas generated the highest total insured losses at nearly $253 million and the highest average claim cost at $60,382, about double the national average.