Storms Dudley, Eunice and Franklin have together caused at least €500 million of insured losses across the Netherlands, according to the Dutch Association of Insurers.
Source: Joe Giddens/PA
The Association says insurers have recieved record numbers of damage reports over the last few days, with widespread damage to homes, cars and commercial buildings.
The consecutive destructive storms impacted much of Western and Central Europe over the past week, and are anticipated to be a multi-billion loss event for the insurance and reinsurance industry.
Moody’s has already estimated that the three storms will drive insured losses of £400 million just in the UK, while actuarial consultancy Meyerthole Siems Kohlruss (MSK) believes the costs in Germany could be around €500 million from Dudley and a further €900 million from Eunice.
In the Netherlands, which was also severely impacted, insurance penetration for weather events is high both for home contents and fences, as well as cars, with about two-thirds of the fleet in the Netherlands having a third-party plus insurance (limited hull) or all-risk insurance (hull) that insures against damage caused by storms.
“Despite the fact that the Netherlands has anticipated the storm well, partly thanks to warnings from the KNMI, Rijkswaterstaat and insurers, the February storms have caused record numbers of reports and a huge amount of damage,” says Richard Weurding, general director at the Dutch Association of Insurers.
“Insurers have scaled up and are doing everything they can to ensure that claims are handled smoothly. Customers are helped as quickly as possible, but in some cases have to take into account waiting times due to the large number of reports that come in.”
So far, the Association has observed large and small scale wind and water damage from the storms in the Netherlands, including damage to cars, homes and businesses caused by fallen trees, blown-off roofs and leaks, as well as blown-off roof tiles and damage to solar panels and fences.
In the coming days it is expected to continue to blow heavily, with a high chance of consequential damage from roof tiles and solar panels that have come loose due to previous wind gusts, but also trees that have already been slightly uprooted.
