Puerto Rico sues insurance companies for not filling hurricane claims

Puerto Rico’s government is suing insurance companies for not responding quickly enough to claims filed after Hurricane Maria slammed the island last year, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.

{mosads}Gov. Ricardo Rossello said that the aim of the lawsuits is to prevent companies from alleging that claims have expired so that they can drop them. He said that insurance companies believe they can drop claims if clients do not sue within a year.

Government officials said that 16,000 claims remain unresolved, and seek $2.6 billion in damages for those cases.

Thursday will mark the one year anniversary of the hurricane hitting Puerto Rico as a Category 4 storm.

According to a study by George Washington University, nearly 3,000 in the U.S. territory died as a result of Maria.