Aon: May storms set to cost US insurers billions

Seven severe convective storms affecting central and eastern parts of the US in May will trigger insurance industry payouts worth billions of dollars, according to Aon, the highest May tally since 2015.

Severe convective storms have resulted in at least $10bn in US insurance payouts annually since 2008 and 2019 is shaping up to become the 12th consecutive year this has happened, said Steve Bowen, director and meteorologist in Aon’s impact forecasting team.

In its monthly Global Catastrophe Recap report, evaluating the impact of natural disasters, Aon estimated total economic losses at up to $850m for the period May 4-10 alone, with public and private insurance expected to cover up to $620m of that.

Thunderstorms in North Carolina on May 13 are expected to cost insurers $215m, while severe storms in Illinois and Indiana on May 16-17 could cost them another $325m.

Severe weather events on May 17-19, May 20-23, May 24-25 and May 26-31 will each add hundreds of millions more in losses, Aon said.

Bowen said: “Historically, May has been the most active month for tornadoes in the United States and 2019 was no exception.”