European storm Ciarán to cost insurers €1.89bn, estimates Perils

Insured losses from European storm Ciarán, or Emir, are estimated at €1.89bn, according to catastrophe data specialist Perils. France will account for the majority of the insured loss, Perils said, with an estimated bill of €1.59bn largely from wind damage claims to property.

Perils said the event was the largest windstorm loss to the French market since Klaus in 2009.

The storm also affected Belgium, the UK and the Netherlands at the beginning of November.

Perils said losses were typical for European windstorms where “a large number of smaller claims, stemming mostly from non-structural property damage, added up to a significant total”.

The storm was named Ciarán by the UK Met Office and Emir by the Free University of Berlin. The storm’s footprint covered the English Channel and coastal regions for southern England and northern France with heavy rains and extremely high winds, before moving on to Belgium and the Netherlands.

Wind speeds were highest in Brittany and Normandy, as well as on the Channel Islands, where winds reached record levels not seen since the Great Storm of 1987.

Christoph Oehy, CEO of Perils, said: “Even though windstorm Ciarán brought record winds to Brittany, its impact could have been much worse had the storm’s path been more southerly or northerly. As it was, the most extreme winds tracked over the English Channel and hence spared large population centres.

“Nevertheless, the loss to the insurance industry was considerable, with France leading the tally by a significant margin, followed by the UK, Belgium, and the Netherlands.”

Perils said losses from the subsequent storm Domingos (also known as Fred), do not exceed its reporting threshold of €300m.