Storm Egon losses to top €200m

Storm Egon, which hit parts of France and Germany last month, is estimated to cost insurers €212m, according to data from Zurich-based PERILS. The insurance industry loss database firm said the windstorm is the first to break the €200m mark for two years.

The storm brought high winds, heavy rain and snowfall to northern and central France and central and southern parts of Germany on 12-13 January 2017.

PERILS said its initial loss estimate of €212m mainly covers claims in France and Germany, but also includes losses from the storm recorded in Austria, Switzerland and the Benelux countries.

Luzi Hitz, CEO of PERILS, said: “Egon is the first European windstorm to exceed our reporting threshold of €200m for this peril since Mike-Niklas in March 2015.

“While the market loss from Egon is by no means dramatic, it nevertheless provides new data points, which can be compared with past events and put into relation with the market sums insured data which we also provide. As such, Egon will serve as another piece of knowledge with which to calibrate the industry’s view of European extra-tropical cyclone risk to reality.”

PERILS said it will provide an updated loss estimate in April.