Actuarial consultancy Meyerthole Siems Kohlruss (MSK) has estimated that European windstorms Eberhard and Bennet are likely to have caused insured property losses of around €800 million in Germany.
Storm Eberhard in Germany on March 10th. Source: picture alliance/dpa/C. Seidel
Windstorm Bennet (also known as Freya in the UK) affected areas of the UK, France, Benelux, Switzerland and Germany in early March, bringing gust speeds up to 100km/h to some regions.
MSK told our sister publication, Artemis, that it expects re/insurance industry losses from Bennet to reach around €200 million in Germany alone.
This would be the threshold required for catastrophe loss data aggregator PERILS to report on the storm, which is currently under investigation by the firm.
MSK expects the overall impact of the storm to be manageable for re/insurance interests, while Siems noted that €200 million is around the minimum level of windstorm losses German insurers expect to pay out every year.
However, Germany was also impacted by losses from storm Eberhard over the past two days, which could result in industry losses of up to €600 million in the country, according to preliminary estimates from MSK.
Eberhard lashed parts of the UK, Ireland, Benelux, Poland and Germany with wind speeds of up to 120kmh, causing widespread travel disruption and minor damage to buildings and vehicles.
Analysts at MSK told Artemis that storm Eberhard appears to be much more severe in terms of property damage, although it added that it remains very early to be assessing damages.
Updates will be provided as more information emerges from the impact of storm Eberhard, but it is expected to add significantly to the winter storm toll for re/insurers in Europe, with further stormy weather anticipated in the week ahead.
