Storm Friederike loss over €1.14bn in Germany & Netherlands alone

Insurance industry losses from European windstorm Friederike are already seen as over €1.14 billion ($1.42 billion) in Germany and the Netherlands combined, according to the countries insurance associations.

In the latest weekly catastrophe report from reinsurance broker Aon Benfield’s catastrophe modelling unit Impact Forecasting, the two estimates are explained in full.

In Germany, the insurance association has put a preliminary cost of EUR 1 billion on the storm, with EUR 900 million coming from property damage and another EUR 100 million from damage to automobiles.

In the Netherlands the local insurance associations said that 3,600 reported commercial claims are expected to cost a minimum of EUR 30 million, while insured losses to properties and automobiles will be a minimum of EUR 90 million. Additional losses from agriculture are expected to minimally come to EUR 20 million, which is the amount estimated by a single major insurer, taking the tally in the Netherlands to EUR 140 million (at a minimum.

Both figures, for insurance and reinsurance industry losses in Germany and the Netherlands can be expected to rise further.

Additionally, Impact Forecasting explained, that there are losses to come from the United Kingdom, northern Belgium and some northern French departments, all of which experienced some pockets of significant wind related damage from windstorm Friederike.

Yesterday, risk modeller AIR Worldwide said that the final insurance and reinsurance industry loss from European windstorm Friederike would likely be between EUR 1.3 billion and EUR 2.6 billion.

Based on the numbers already released by Germany and the Netherlands insurance associations, it seems safe to assume the bottom end of that range has easily been met and the final re/insurance industry-wide loss from Friederike will towards the mid to upper end of the estimate from AIR.

Friederike came hot on the heels of an industry loss from storm Burglind / Eleanor, which AIR has itself said could cost as much as EUR 1.6 billion.

Both of these storms will be the most costly European windstorms in years, but Friederike could be the most costly insurance and reinsurance industry loss event to hit the region since windstorm Kyrill in 2007.