Status: 12/28/2022 2:39 p.m
In 2022, 4.3 billion euros of insured damage was caused by storms, hail and heavy rain. That was significantly less than in the year of the flood disaster. Nevertheless, insurance premiums are likely to rise.
Storm, hail and heavy rain caused insured losses of 4.3 billion euros in the past year. This was announced by the General Association of the Insurance Industry (GDV) in Berlin. The association classified 2022 as an “average natural hazard year”: with many insurance claims, but without an extreme event like the severe floods in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate in the previous year.
“The damage to houses, household goods, businesses and motor vehicles in 2022 is only marginally above the long-term average of 4.2 billion euros,” said GDV General Manager Jörg Asmussen. The association is the umbrella organization for private insurers and has around 460 member companies.
1.4 billion euros in damage from three winter storms
According to the GDV, the most severe damage this year was caused by the hurricanes “Ylenia”, “Zeynep” and “Antonia” in February. The violent storms caused fallen trees, accidents, broken pipes and damaged buildings. The storms caused considerable destruction, especially in central and northern Germany.
“With a total of 1.4 billion euros, the storm series is the third most severe winter storm since 2002,” said Asmussen. “Prevention and adaptation to the consequences of climate change are the linchpin so that costs from natural disasters and thus also insurance premiums do not get out of hand in the future.”
In any case, consumers in Germany must expect to have to dig deeper into their pockets for their insurance policies in the near future. In view of high major losses and record inflation this year, Hannover Re, the world’s third-largest reinsurer, announced in October that it would significantly tighten prices. This should have a direct impact on the amount of premiums that insurance companies collect from their customers, because reinsurers are, in a sense, the insurance of an insurance company.
Elementary insurance is not compulsory for the time being
For 2021, the GDV had put the insured damage from natural hazards in Germany at 12.6 billion euros – more than at any time since statistics began in the early 1970s. Just under a third of this damage was not caused by the floods in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate. The flood disaster in the Ahr Valley had one Insurance damage of around 8.5 billion euros entailed and thus revealed that a large part of the affected buildings were not adequately insured against natural hazards.
According to industry estimates, the actual degree of destruction was much higher, with damage amounting to 33 billion euros. The problem: The usual building insurance covers storm and hail, but not high water, flooding or landslides. Therefore, the federal states had demanded an obligation to insure against elementary damage to buildings. However, the federal government recently put a stop to the plans.
Insured damage is only damage that is ultimately covered by an insurer. The overall damage caused by storms and other natural catastrophes is generally higher, sometimes quite significantly.