USD1.5 bn for H1 cat claims

The German Insurance Association has said that the insurance industry has faced around EUR1.3 billion worth of claims to pay from natural phenomena such as windstorms, hail, lightning and heavy rain in the first half of 2019.

Windstorms and hail drove a significant proportion of the losses, with convective weather related storms and hail again featuring as a component of the impacts felt in the German insurance and reinsurance sector.

In recent years the incidence of large hail events in Germany has been a significant contributor to the sectors losses, as too have related convective perils such as tornadoes.

Residential property damages actually came out slightly below the long-term average at EUR730 million, compared to the average of EUR800 million, while another EUR550 million was related to motor vehicle losses, the association said.

For autos, the damages are around 10 percent higher than the average, which the association said is largely due to hail related loss events.

“Despite the hail damage to cars, we currently expect a normal year of damage in 2019,” explained Bernhard Gause, member of the board of GDV.

Home insurers suffered close to EUR660 million of the losses faced due to storms and hail, while heavy rainfall and flood related insured losses were half the average at just EUR70 million.