Hailstorm claims could hit €900m
Insurance claims submitted to repair damage to 160,000 homes, 190,000 vehicles and 13,000 businesses
THE INSURANCE bill for damaged caused by hailstorms that battered France earlier this month will end up between €800million and €900million, the president of the French Federation of Insurance Companies (FFSA) has said.
Bernard Spitz said that claims had been made for damage to 160,000 homes and 190,000 vehicles, while 13,000 businesses - including farmers - had also made claims for professional losses.
Two days of storms earlier this month caused chaos across numerous departments, when hail “the size of tennis balls” fell in some parts of the country.
It is the second summer in a row that extreme weather events had resulted in a high than normal number of insurance claims, Mr Spitz said..
He said: “In 2013, the cost of insurance claims for hailstorms in July and August was a little more than €800million, while this phenomenon previously cost between €100million and €200million a year.
In November 2013, insurance companies warned that premiums would rise this year due to the high cost of weather-related claims in France; while in August last year winemakers warned that summer hailstorms had badly hit the harvest.
