Losses from 2016 Italy quake revised upwards

The Mw 6.0 earthquake which impacted Central Italy on 24 August 2016 will now cost the insurance industry €108 million, much higher than the €66 million originally suggested three months after the event, according to PERILS, the catastrophe insurance data firm.

In the final loss report, the market loss data are available by CRESTA zone and property line of business. This loss footprint information is complemented by instrumental shaking intensities, peak ground accelerations and loss ratios which show the incurred loss from the earthquake as a percentage of the sums insured.

The loss estimate is significantly below PERILS’ standard €200m loss capture trigger for European events but it said it has captured the data because of the significant socio-economic impact of the earthquake.

The Italian Civil Protection Agency estimates the economic losses from the event at €7.1 billion. Based on the PERILS loss estimate of €108m, only 1.5 percent of the overall economic losses were insured. In comparison, the PERILS estimate of the insured loss of €1.24 billion from the Emilia-Romagna earthquakes in 2012 represented 9.3 percent of the total rebuilding costs of €13.3bn estimated by the National Council of Engineers.

The difference in these figures reflects the significant variation in earthquake insurance penetration levels across Italy.

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