German insurers face claims of about 11.5 billion euros ($13.6 billion) in 2021 after extensive flooding and hail storms, Germany’s insurance lobby GDV said on Thursday.
It could be the most expensive year for insurers since the GDV began keeping statistics in the early 1970s, it said.
This year could exceed 2002, when flooding cost 11.3 billion in claims. The long-term average for claims is around 3.8 billion euros.
The flooding from storm Bernd in July stretched from an area close to the western city of Cologne down to southern Bavaria, causing houses to collapse, stranding residents on rooftops and sweeping away cars. At least 180 people were killed.
The episode will result in claims of around 7 billion euros.
Hail storms in June resulted in around 1.7 billion in insured damages.
($1 = 0.8446 euros) (Reporting by Tom Sims; Editing by Edmund Blair)
Photo: Debris in a street after flooding in Schuld near Bad Neuenahr, western Germany, on July 15, 2021.
Photo credit: Bernd Lauter/AFP/Getty Images
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