Chile floods 4th costliest disaster for insurers in H1

Global catastrophe losses for insurers totaled US$12bn in 1H15, 56% less than the 10-year average, reported reinsurer Munich Re cited by media outlet Artemis.

The list consisted of 510 events, with the winter storms in the US and Canada between 16 and 25 February as the costliest for insurers (US$1.8bn), followed by the winter storm Niklas in Europe at the end of March (US$1bn), the severe storms in the US between 7 and 10 April (US$900mn), and the floods in the north of Chile between 23 and 26 March (US$500mn).

The 7.8-magnitude earthquake in Nepal on March 24 caused 8,850 deaths and overall loses of US$4.5bn, compared with 39 deaths and overall loses of US$2.4bn from the storms in the US and Canada in February. The Nepal earthquake led to losses of only US$140mn for insurers, revealing the insured-economic gap of poorer, developing regions.

For the 2H Munich Re expects the El Niño phenomenon to intensify.

A heatwave in Pakistan and India was probably partially influenced by the El Niño conditions, Peter Höppe, head of geo risks research at Munich Re, was reported as saying by Artemis.

Pictured: Floods in the north of Chile in March