Gulf Oil Spill Will Rock Insurers

Fishermen and environmentalists aren't the only ones casting a worried glance at that oil spill in the Gulf. Add insurance companies to the list. Estimates are flying around: $7 billion for final cleanup, $2.5 billion for Louisiana's fishing industry, $3 billion for Florida's tourism industry, and billions more to families of the 11 men killed in the explosion and to homeowners in the region (now being advised to start taking "before" photos), reports MarketWatch.

"The flood of lawyers to Florida is probably equal to the flood of oil coming to the coast," said one industry expert. "There are other possible losses out there, damage to shore line, damage to properties, business interruption caused by the slick." Exactly who pays what will be determined. "People may claim against BP or others, but they might try to claim on their own policies for such losses," he said. (More Gulf oil spill stories.)