Windstorm Egon insurance industry loss initially put at EUR212m

European windstorm Egon, which struck France and Germany on the 12th and 13th January 2017 as a severe extra-tropical cyclone, is estimated to have caused an insurance and reinsurance industry loss of EUR 212 million, according to PERILS AG.

Windstorm Egon developed as a secondary low, forming out of a large depression named Dieter and tracked rapidly across northern France and Germany on 12th and 13th January 2017.

As we wrote in January, PERILS AG had three European windstorm events under investigation, but reinsurance market sources suggested that Egon was the most likely to breach the EUR200m reporting threshold required for the storm to be tracked. Based on today’s announcement it barely made that distinction.

High winds, predominantly occurring to the south of the system, affected northern and central France, as well as central and southern Germany, causing damage to properties and insured assets. Windstorm Egon’s cold front also resulted in heavy rain and snowfall.

Insurance and reinsurance industry data provider PERILS AG has provided its initial estimated of the impact to the industry, pegging insured losses from windstorm Egon at EUR 212 million initially, with the majority occurring in France and Germany, but with impacts also felt in Austria, Switzerland and the Benelux states.

Luzi Hitz, CEO of PERILS, commented: “Egon is the first European windstorm to exceed our reporting threshold of EUR 200m for this peril since Mike-Niklas in March 2015. While the market loss from Egon is by no means dramatic, it nevertheless provides new data points which can be compared with past events and put into relation with the market sums insured data which we also provide. As such Egon will serve as another piece of knowledge with which to calibrate the industry’s view of European extra-tropical cyclone risk to reality.”

Extra-Tropical Cyclone Egon, maximum gust values in km/h: Egon occurred between 12 and 13 January 2017 and brought strong winds to northern and central France as well as central and southern Germany.

The initial European windstorm Egon market loss from PERILS is based on ultimate gross loss data as reported by primary insurance companies. PERILS will provide an updated estimate of the windstorm Egon insurance and reinsurance market loss on 12th April 2017, three months after the event start date.