According to the Mission of insurance companies for the knowledge and prevention of annual risks, the proliferation of natural risks cost professionals dearly last year.
Insurers will have to get their hands on the wallet, after a year 2022 marked by multiple climatic disasters. Insurance organizations should thus pay out nearly 10 billion euros, according to the annual report of the Mission of insurance companies for the knowledge and prevention of annual risks (MRN), which is responsible for compiling the data of organizations like France Assureurs.
Climatic events continue to increase in the world, and do not spare France, increasing the bill. “In the 1980s, climatic claims represented on average one billion euros per yearunderlines France Insurers in Parisian. And since 2016, it was on average 3.5 billion euros per year“. In 2022, four violent stormy episodes hit France from the end of May to the beginning of July. In all, one million claims have been filed with insurance, representing an envelope of 4 billion euros. Between June 18 and July 4, 2022, 267,000 homes and 337,000 vehicles were damaged, underline our colleagues.
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More frequent episodes of drought
Added to this are the mini-tornadoes that hit the northwest of the country last October. Roofs torn off, electric poles on the ground or power cuts, the damage amounts to several hundred million euros. According to the balance sheet of the MRN, the episodes of thunderstorms, storms and hail represented a bill of 6.4 billion euros.
The drought between March and July 2022 further weighs down insurers’ bills. Without water, the soil becomes arid, shrinks, before swelling again when the rains return. A phenomenon that weakens homes, according to France Assureurs: “Drought and in particular the phenomenon of shrinkage and swelling of clay soils, which cracks individual houses, will cost around 2.5 billion euros for 2022.»
And the situation should not improve in 2023, with a drought that is already affecting France. “It’s the driest winter since 1959“Said the Minister of Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion, Christophe Béchu, at the end of February. The government thus calls on the prefects to issue water restriction orders “right now“. According to France Assureurs, the cost of claims related to natural disasters could double within thirty years compared to the 1990s, and reach 143 billion euros.