June storms pummel Europe

European economies faced $3 billion of economic losses following severe thunderstorms in June, according to Impact Forecasting.

Impact Forecasting, Aon Benfield’s cat modelling centre, says that severe thunderstorms affected large parts of Western and Central Europe, with hail in Germany, France and Belgium proving particularly damaging.

The French Federation of Insurance Companies noted that 363,000 residential, automobile and business claims had been filed in France alone as a result of the severe weather, with insurance payouts forecast at $1.25 billion.

Losses marked the second consecutive summer in which parts of Europe have endured major insured losses as a result of hail; in 2013, insurers paid more than $4 billion in claims from hailstorms, mostly in Germany and France.

Adam Podlaha, head of Impact Forecasting, says: “For the second year running, hail-inducing thunderstorms have caused significant damage during the summer months in Europe. Given the recent level of losses for this peril, both in Europe and in the US, there is an increasing opportunity for the development of models to help insurers more accurately evaluate their exposures.

“With exponential advances in computing power, model developers will gradually be able to address the challenge of modelling this natural hazard at the high spatial resolution required to make the results meaningful.”