European storm Dragi-Eberhard insured losses rise to €782m: Perils' final estimate

Property insurance losses for the ‘Dragi-Eberhard’ winter storms that swept through Europe in March 2019 are estimated to be €782 million, according to Perils, the Zurich-based data provider.

Perils has disclosed its fourth and final estimate of the insured property market loss for Dragi-Eberhard, which affected the British Isles, and Western and Central Europe on March 9 and 10, 2019. It said that the resulting industry loss from these cyclones represented "the largest windstorm loss of the 2018/2019 European extratropical cyclone season".

The majority of the losses occurred in Belgium, France and Germany. The United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Switzerland were also affected, but to a much lesser degree.

Low-pressure system Dragi struck on March 9 and was immediately followed by Eberhard on March 10. Both systems were named by the Free University of Berlin.

Dragi was the weaker of the two systems, affecting mainly parts of Belgium, Northern Germany, Poland and northern parts of the Czech Republic, with gusts exceeding 100km/h only in elevated areas. Eberhard struck the British Isles early on March 10 and continued to move over an area that spanned France, the Benelux countries, Germany and Eastern Europe.

Perils stated that in the final loss report, released 12 months after the event, the market loss data for Dragi-Eberhard are made available by CRESTA zone and property line of business for all affected countries. The loss footprint information is complemented by gust speed values and loss ratios which show the incurred loss from Dragi-Eberhard as a percentage of the sums insured.