Losses from January windstorms exceed $2bn in Europe
Windstorms Friederike, Eleanor and Carmen which hit Western and Central Europe in January are expected to cost European insurers more than $2 billion losses, according to Aon Benfield.
The storms killed at least 20 people and caused widespread damage.
The German Insurance Association (GDV) reported that Friederike was the costliest windstorm in the country since Windstorm Kyrill in 2007, with preliminary payouts listed at approximately €1 billion.
Additional payouts exceeding €100 million were reported by other regional insurance groups. Overall economic losses were even higher.
Windstorms Eleanor and Carmen also impacted Western and Central Europe, killing at least seven people and causing notable damage in the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, and Switzerland. Preliminary insured losses were listed in the hundreds of euro millions.
“A meteorologically active January resulted in elevated windstorm losses in Europe,” said Michal Lörinc, an analyst with Impact Forecasting’s Catastrophe Insight team. “When looking at the combined effect of storms Friederike, Eleanor and Carmen, windstorm-related economic and insured losses in Europe are already comparable to the annual totals recorded throughout 2017. The busy stretch of storms allowed Impact Forecasting to deploy its European windstorm model and help clients better capture the expected loss impact from each event in real-time.”
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