PERILS, the Zurich-based catastrophe insurance data provider, has disclosed its third industry loss estimate for the floods and storms caused by low-pressure systems Babet (Viktor) and Aline (Wolfgang) over the British Isles and northwestern Europe in October 2023, increasing it to €691 million.
PERILS’ previous loss estimates was €683 million, released on 22nd January 2023, three months after the event, and €509 million released on 4th December 2023, six weeks after the event.
These loss estimates cover the property line of business and are based on loss data collected from the affected insurance markets which include Ireland, the United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, and Norway.
The majority, or £474 million (€550m) of the losses occurred in the UK and were mainly flood-related.
A final update of the market loss from the Babet-Aline floods and storms will be provided on 22nd October, 2024, 12 months after the event’s end date.
Luzi Hitz, Product Manager, PERILS, commented, “It has been six months since the Babet-Aline Floods and during that period many parts of Europe and particularly the UK and Ireland, have continued to experience persistent extreme wind and rainfall events. The British Isles witnessed a record number of named storm systems, many bringing extensive rainfall leading to flooding.
“While the region has seen major winter floods in the past, such as the Desmond and Eva-Frank Floods in December 2015, given milder autumn and winter temperatures there is a greater capacity for water storage in the atmosphere which tends to precipitate as rain rather than snow. It is therefore likely the warming climate will drive a rise in the frequency of winter flood events.”
