Insured losses from a string of recent tornadoes that ravaged 10 states across the Midwest and the Plains were not high enough to boost prices in the U.S. commercial property market, but there may be lingering business interruption coverage issues.

The tornadoes that struck May 18-20 caused insured losses estimated at $2 billion to $5 billion, according to the Oakland, Calif.-based catastrophe modeling firm Eqecat Inc.

Risk Management Solutions Inc., another catastrophe modeling firm, estimated insured losses in Moore, Okla., at $2 billion to $3.5 billion, with residential structures accounting for 95% of the losses, said Matthew Nielson, director of model product management at the Newark, Calif.-based firm.

“It's going to be a large loss for sure,” said Gary Benefield, human resources and risk management director for the city of Moore, where a two-mile-wide tornado caused the bulk of the estimated insured losses, 24 fatalities and damaged about 13,000 homes, businesses and schools.

The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. is the city's property insurer, having handled losses from previous tornadoes that hit Moore in 1999, 2003 and 2010, Mr. Benefield said.

“We've had experience with them,” Mr. Benefield said. “I've been in contact with the adjuster. I have full faith in them that they're going to do everything. They always went above and beyond for us.”

He said he expects property damage not covered by Hartford will be covered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The Greater Oklahoma City Chamber estimated that about 300 businesses were in the path of the tornado, said Roy H. Williams, the chamber's president and CEO.

About 20% of those businesses were in the health care and social assistance industry, 12% were retail businesses and 11% construction operations, Mr. Williams said. The other types of companies in the twister's path were not immediately clear.

“It's a reasonable estimate to say there's probably in excess of 2,000 registered businesses that were directly impacted” of more than 80,000 in the Oklahoma City area, Mr. Williams said. “That's a very small percentage, yet it's important and significant.”

Insurers are well-capitalized and able to absorb the insured losses from the tornadoes, said Howard Mills, New York-based director and chief adviser of the insurance industry group at Deloitte L.L.P.

“It will not lead to a hardening of the market,” Mr. Mills said. “Tornadoes ... are horrific and devastating, but it's a very narrow swath of destruction compared to something like a hurricane.”

With an all-time high surplus of $600 billion, insurance markets will not feel any broad effects from the storms, said Alfred P. Tobin, New York-based managing principal and national property leader for Aon Risk Solutions, a unit of Aon P.L.C.

“A billion-dollar event should not dramatically change, or even regionally change, the property insurance marketplace for commercial customers,” Mr. Tobin said.

Businesses that have either suppliers or customers in areas hit by the tornadoes may face contingent business interruption issues, said Walter Andrews, partner and head of the insurance practice group at law firm Hunton & Williams L.L.P. Washington.

“It's those businesses that need to look at, or will be looking at, whether or not they have coverage to the extent their business is interrupted because of the damage to the assets in Oklahoma,” Mr. Andrews said.

Companies often have no access to their suppliers' records, so “getting an accurate, detailed record and proving your loss for CBI is very difficult,” said Selena J. Linde, insurance policyholder partner at Perkins Coie L.L.P. in Washington.

“It's tough because a lot of people don't have their policies right now. They have to locate their policies through their brokers, and asking insurance companies themselves, when their policies were actually destroyed in the storm,” Ms. Linde said. “Yet those policies have time limits and time traps.”

Among many lessons learned from these recent natural catastrophes is that policyholders must understand what their insurance will and will not cover, Aon's Mr. Tobin said.

“Sometimes insurance can fall into a commodity,” he said. “Folks really have to read the fine print of their insurance policies and appreciate what they're buying.”