The German Insurance Association (GDV) has updated its insurance and reinsurance industry loss estimate for the recent flooding that devastated parts of the country to between €4.5 billion and €5.5 billion, of which around two-thirds are for damages in Rhineland-Palatinate.
Over July 13th to 18th, major flooding impacted parts of Central and Western Europe, including Belgium, the Netherlands, and Switzerland, although Germany remains the worst affected region.
On July 21st, the GDV provided an initial insured loss estimate for the flood event of between €4 billion and €5 billion, although this range only included damage experienced in the German states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate.
Now, the country’s insurance association has updated its estimate for the event with the inclusion of damages from other impacted states, including Bavaria and Saxony.
“We are now assuming insured losses between 4.5 billion and 5.5 billion euros,” said Jörg Asmussen, the general manager of the GDV.
Of the total damage incurred in the country, the GDV says that combined, Bavaria and Saxony only account for 5% to 10%. The majority of the insured loss, or roughly two-thirds relate to Rhineland-Palatinate, with around one-third in North Rhine-Westphalia.
The updated loss estimate from the GDV also states that some 40,000 vehicles were either damaged or destroyed by the floods.
“The insured damage for the motor vehicle insurer is around 200 million euros and for the transport insurer around 100 million euros,” said Asmussen.
The GDV said previously that storms, floods, heavy rain and hail are expected to make 2021 the most damaging year since 2002, when the insured storm damage reached €10.9 billion.
“It may take weeks for more detailed data to be available. Record of damage and quick first payments have priority over detailed damage statistics,” said Asmussen on the GDV’s plans to update the claims figures on an ongoing basis.
Allianz Deutschland said today that it estimates recent flooding in the country to drive losses of more than €500 million in Germany.
So far, the company has received around 13,000 claims as a result of the storm, of which 10,000 relate to damage to houses, furniture, and household goods, and 3,000 to damage to vehicles.
“But we estimate that this figure will rise significantly in the coming days,” said Allianz Deutschland’s Damage Director, Jochen Haug.
Overall, the global insurer foresees over 30,000 property damage claims and more than 5,000 vehicle damage claims from the event.
A recent report from insurance and reinsurance broker, Aon, estimates preliminary economic losses of more than $10 billion (€8.5bn) from the event across Europe.
