Ex-hurricane Ophelia insured loss entirely manageable by re/insurers: PERILS

The re/insurance industry loss from ex-hurricane Ophelia is estimated at €60 million, according to the Zurich-based catastrophe insurance data provider PERILS.

Ophelia, reportedly a very rare form of European windstorm, affected Ireland and the UK on Oct. 16 and 17, causing significant damage across Ireland and to a lesser extent in Wales, Northern Ireland, North-Western England and Scotland. It was the largest hurricane ever recorded that far east in the North Atlantic Basin, PERILS said.

According to PERILS, the majority of the damage caused by the storm occurred in the Republic of Ireland, with the region incurring a market loss of €49 million, while the market loss for the UK is £10 million.

Luzi Hitz, CEO of PERILS, commented: "In the aftermath of Ophelia, some reports suggested that losses from the event in Ireland alone could reach USD 1.8bn. After our loss data collection from affected insurance companies, we can conclude that the impact was much less severe, and that the insured loss is entirely manageable by the insurance and reinsurance industries. This storm clearly demonstrates the importance of having an independent source for post-event loss data which allows the market to compare the modelled results against the actual loss data."

The cat data provider further noted that as the losses from Ophelia remain significantly below PERILS’ data capture threshold of €200 million for European windstorms, there will be no further loss surveys for this event.

Don't miss the latest industry news -  Sign up to our free email newsletters

More of today's news

Munich Re's ERGO reveals management shake-up and new insurance unit

Allianz intends to buy remaining Euler Hermes shares

Brit hires former Advocate Reinsurance CEO for specialty platform Scion

Liberty bolsters financial lines with ex-Chubb hire in Netherlands

UnipolRe goes live with IT underwriting solution

Don't miss our insurtech email newsletter - sign up today