Nat cats drive ‘exceptional’ claims at Baloise
Swiss insurer Baloise said its earnings have been hit by an ‘exceptionally high’ amount of CHF200m (€208m) from natural catastrophe claims. Reporting nine-month results, Baloise said it expected the volume of claims to be ‘exceptionally large’ in the second half of 2023.
It said the number of natural disasters and large claims in recent months have increased its nat cat loss estimate from the mid-double-digit millions at the first-half reporting period to CHF200m.
“The claims environment in respect of natural disasters remains difficult and the number of large claims has also been well above average in the past three months,” Baloise said.
The Swiss group reported a 6% increase, based on local currency, in premiums for its non-life business to CHF3.37bn in the first nine months of the year, with units in all regions contributing to the increase. Baloise said growth was strongest from its non-domestic operations in Europe, where growth ranged from between 8% for its German and Belgian operations and 13% for Luxembourg, helped by rate increases. Its Swiss non-life premiums increased almost 2% to CHF1.3bn.