1,000 burglaries a day in France

MORE THAN 1,000 French homes were burgled every day last year, according to figures from the French Federation of Insurance Companies (FFSA).

Insurers dealt with 400,000 claims for break-ins in 2013, at a cost of €720 million..

The number of burglaries has risen 50% between 2008 and 2013 but has remained steady in the first half of 2014, the FFSA said.

The organisation’s president, Bernard Spitz told AFP: “Households are better equipped than they were a few years ago, so the losses are greater.”

Meanwhile, 4,000 homeowners made claims for water damage every day last year. That’s a drop of 3% year on year, but still generated a bill of €1.3bn.

And there were an average of 630 claims a day for fire damage, a rise of 9%, that ended up costing €1.6bn.

Claims for damage caused by extreme weather jumped 42% last year compared to 2012, with payouts averaging €2,300. The total cost to insurers was €815million. In comparison, insurance claims for damaged caused by the hailstorms that battered France earlier this month are estimated to be between €800million and €900million.

The FFSA also reported that 34,000 claims were made for natural disasters last year, at an average cost of €13,050.