Floods, hail and other extreme weather events caused Germany’s insurers damages amounting to 4.9 billion euros in the past year.
Compared to the previous year, insured damage to houses, contents, businesses and motor vehicles is expected to have increased by 900 million euros, as the General Association of the German Insurance Industry (GDV) announced. “Unfortunately, they are pretty stable at the high level of the long-term average of 4.9 billion euros,” said GDV Managing Director Jörg Asmussen, according to the statement.
The storms in the summer months were particularly significant. In August alone they caused damage amounting to 1.5 billion euros, almost a third of the total. The storms “Kay” and “Lambert” also raged in June, which, according to GDV, also accounted for hundreds of millions of euros.
The largest cost item in the past year was damage from storms and hail, as the GDV further reports. They therefore accounted for property damage amounting to 2.7 billion euros. Floods and other storms amount to 900 million euros in the balance sheet. These two items were somewhat below average. According to GDV, the insured motor vehicle damage was 1.3 billion euros, above the long-term average.
