Initial loss estimates from European windstorm Klaus

Initial loss estimates from windstorm Klaus which struck Europe at the weekend (France and Spain specifically) have been released by two risk modelling firms. AIR Worldwide and EQECAT have both released their officia figures. The loss estimates are quite different as is usual in these cases, we expect the final losses to sit somewhere in the middle of these two estimates.

AIR Worldwide estimate losses to be somewhere between $462m and $924m in France, while EQECAT estimates somewhere between $1.06b and $3.3b. Note that those estimates are both for France and we expect not dissimilar figures to come from Spain.

Final loss figures will be some weeks off by the time all the damage is assessed and claims received. However the figures above do demonstrate the possibility of catastrophe bonds being exposed to losses given the magnitude of loss expected.