Compared to Andrew, Iniki’s but a Breeze for Insurers : Disasters: Losses in Hawaii are expected to be dwarfed by those in the Florida hurricane--and the industry is coping successfully with that one.

For insurers, Hurricane Iniki is but a breeze compared with the ferocious gales that ravaged South Florida last month.

The storm that swept over Hawaii’s northern islands Friday is not expected to cause much financial damage to an industry that is coping successfully with more than $7 billion in losses from Hurricane Andrew.

State Farm Group, the leading underwriter of property insurance nationwide, has 1,350 homeowners’ policies and 6,700 auto policies in force on Kauai, the hardest-hit island.

That is dwarfed by the 110,000 claims and the $1.5 billion that the Bloomington, Ill.-based insurer expects to pay from Hurricane Andrew, which swept through the Bahamas, Florida and coastal Louisiana late last month.

“Everything pales in comparison” to Andrew, said spokesman Bill Sirola.

Federal officials said 10,000 of Kauai’s 21,000 homes and most of its 70 hotels were severely damaged. In contrast, Andrew destroyed or damaged 117,000 homes in Florida, leaving 250,000 people homeless.

State Farm launched into what Sirola called “standard operating procedure” over the weekend. The company set up a toll-free phone line and began advertising in Hawaiian newspapers to connect with policyholders.

Insurance adjusters began arriving on Kauai by boat. More will come by plane as commercial flights resume. But in total, State Farm expects to have only about 12 adjusters handling claims.

In Florida, 2,600 State Farm workers combed the devastated Homestead area south of Miami to examine hurricane-shredded homes and property.

Average property values on Kauai are estimated to be about three times those of homes and condos in Florida.

The average Kauai home is valued at about $200,000 and condos are in the $150,000 range, said Eric Simpson, an assistant vice president at the insurance rating agency A.M. Best Co. Because of the island’s remoteness, damage estimates are expected to be slow in coming.

Behind State Farm, which controls about 17% of the homeowners’ market in Hawaii, come two local insurers: Island Insurance Group, with a 14% market share, and Hawaiian Insurance Group, with 12%.

Experts caution that these figures represent policies throughout the entire state, which may not accurately reflect a company’s share on an individual island.

Simpson said both Island Insurance and Hawaiian Insurance have received “excellent” or better grades when it comes to evaluating their ability to pay policyholder claims.

“While their gross losses might be significant, they have very strong reinsurance programs to spread the loss to others,” Simpson said. Insurers themselves typically buy insurance--known as reinsurance--as a protection against unexpectedly large losses.