The latest tragedy, the floods in Germany and Belgium, is a stark reminder of how severe weather events have become over the past years. The toll of the recent floods is nearing 200. This is a tenfold increase from the reported casualties in the floods in 2002, which before July were deemed to be the worst floods in Europe in this century.
“The images reaching us from the disaster areas not only in the past few days, but in the last few weeks from different countries, have left us stunned,” says Klaus-Peter Roehler, Member of the Board of Management of Allianz SE and Chairman of the Board of Management of Allianz Deutschland AG. “We are there for our customers, offering the best possible support and helping wherever we can. To support relief workers, Allianz in Germany is donating 1 million euros to the rescue organizations involved,” he adds.
The donations will be used for technical equipment or gear, such as waterproof protective clothing, and for pumps and boats that were lost or damaged in the rescue operation.
For the victims, every single contribution counts.
"In the meantime, we have already received around 10,000 claims reports for damaged houses and household effects and around 3,000 claims reports for damaged vehicles," says Jochen Haug, Chief Claims Officer and Member of the Board of Management of Allianz Versicherungs-AG. "However, we expect these numbers to increase significantly in the next few days - our current forecast is for a total of more than 30,000 property damages and more than 5,000 vehicle damages with a claims volume of more than 500 million euros," says Haug.
In Belgium, 20 people have died so far. Allianz Benelux is yet to put a number to the damages. However, initial estimates by the Belgian Association of Insurers peg market-wide losses at several hundred million euros. So far, the highest recorded loss from floods in Belgium is around 150 million euros, in 2016.
Corporate insurer Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) is receiving the first claims from companies in the regions affected. The company’s claims experts are advising clients on the steps to resume operations quickly and safely. However, the extent of property damage is still unclear, as is the expected duration of business interruptions.