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According to German reinsurance firm Munich Re, Hurricane Harvey – the record breaking storm that hit Texas and Louisiana last month – could end up costing insurers between 25 and 30 billion US dollars.
"It is a big estimate. The cost could climb a little bit, but not much," said Torsten Jeworrek, a member of Munich Re's management board, during at an insurance conference in Monaco.
Damage estimates for Hurricane Harvey, which made landfall in Texas on August 26 before returning out to sea to then lash Louisiana, vary from around 50 billion US dollars to well in excess of 100 billion US dollars – however, not all property was insured.
Property insurance policies in the US don't cover floods and many homeowners don't take out separate flood insurance from the government, but, even for the ones who do, the amounts available aren't always sufficient.
Houston and the surrounding areas saw massive flooding that not only damaged homes and cars, but also roads and bridges.
"The evaluation of losses is complex due the prevalence of flooding," said Jeworrek. "It will take a long while, not just a few days or weeks, but maybe months or even a year for the loss figures for the entire sector to be reliable and stable," he added.
He said insurers would likely support most of the costs, and that reinsurers would probably not be hit hard.
A total of 42 people died in Hurricane Harvey.
Jeworrek also mentioned another tropical storm Irma, which is currently sweeping Florida, describing it as a “major event” for the state and the insurance industry.
Jeworrek said that Munich Re wasn’t especially exposed to Florida. “Florida for us is not an attractive state in terms of prices and margins,” he said. “We are not in the most exposed situation here.”
Reinsurers provide insurance to insurance companies which need to spread the risks.
(AFP&REUTERS)
