Insured Losses for August 2016’s Italy Quake Revised Upward to $127.4M: PERILS

The final property insurance market loss estimate for the magnitude 6.0 earthquake that hit Central Italy on Aug. 24, 2016 has increased to €108 million (US$127.4 million), according to PERILS, the independent Zurich-based organization that provides industry-wide catastrophe insurance data.

This compares to an earlier loss estimate of €66 million ($77.9 million) issued by PERILS on Nov. 24, 2016, three months after the event. Estimates are based on loss data collected from insurance companies.

The Italian Civil Protection Agency estimates the economic losses from the event at €7.1 billion. Based on the PERILS loss estimate of €108 million, only 1.5 percent of the overall economic losses were insured, said PERILS.

In comparison, the PERILS’ estimate of the insured loss of €1.24 billion ($1.5 billion) from the Emilia-Romagna earthquakes in 2012 represented 9.3 percent of the total rebuilding costs of €13.3 billion ($15.7 billion) estimated by the National Council of Engineers. The difference in these figures reflects the significant variation in earthquake insurance penetration levels across Italy, said PERILS.

Referring to its final loss report for the August 2016 earthquake, PERILS said the market loss data are available by CRESTA zone and property line of business. Further, it added, the loss footprint information is complemented by instrumental shaking intensities, peak ground accelerations and loss ratios, which show the incurred loss from the earthquake as a percentage of the sums insured.

“While this loss estimate is significantly below PERILS’ standard €200 million [$235 million] loss capture trigger for European events, it has nevertheless been captured given the significant socio-economic impact of the earthquake,” the organization continued.

The final loss report for the series of earthquakes which hit a similar region in Central Italy on Oct. 26 and Oct. 30, 2016 will be released by PERILS on Oct. 26, 2017.

Source: PERILS

Topics Catastrophe Profit Loss Earthquake