Catastrophe modelers last week said insured losses from last month's Windstorm Xynthia in Europe will range from roughly $1 billion to $4 billion, and major reinsurers began estimating their exposure to the storm and to the massive earthquake that recently struck Chile.

Risk Management Solutions Inc. in Newark, Calif., last week said Xynthia would cost private-market insurers between €1 billion and €2 billion ($1.36 billion and $2.72 billion). Boston-based AIR Worldwide Corp., meanwhile, has estimated that insured losses from the storm would range from €1.5 billion to €3 billion ($2.04 billion to $4.09 billion). The estimate does not include business interruption or infrastructure losses.

In addition, Oakland, Calif.-based EQECAT Inc. said that the mean insured gross loss from Xynthia will reach e994 million ($1.35 billion). EQECAT said 65% of its loss estimate from the late February storm that claimed at least 62 lives is from damage in France.

Twenty-five percent of the loss occurred in Germany and 10% in Belgium, Luxembourg and Netherlands, EQECAT said, noting that its estimate, does not include damage in Portugal and Spain, which its windstorm model does not cover. It also does not include losses from storm surge, which were heavy along France's Atlantic coast.

With regard to the other major recent catastrophe, the magnitude 8.8 quake in Chile that killed hundreds and caused significant property damage, modelers had previously projected insured losses ranging from $2 billion to $8 billion, with global reinsurers expected to bear the brunt of the losses.

Munich Reinsurance Co. last week estimated that its losses from the Chile quake and from Windstorm Xynthia would total €500 million ($681.1 million).

Jörg Schneider, chief financial officer of the German reinsurer, said the quake that devastated parts of Chile late last month is expected to result in gross claims of €400 million ($544.9 million) for Munich Re. Losses from Xynthia, he said, could reach €100 million ($136.2 million).

Zurich-based Swiss Reinsurance Co. said it expects $500 million in losses from the earthquake in Chile, as well as $100 million in losses from Windstorm Xynthia. The reinsurer said in a statement that the Chilean earthquake is “likely to become one of the most expensive ever for the global insurance industry,” Swiss Re said in a statement. Swiss Re estimated total economic losses could reach $15 billion from the quake and that marketwide insured losses could range from $4 billion to $7 billion.

Swiss Re said it is common for owners of mortgaged residential, commercial and industrial properties in Chile to buy earthquake insurance.

Meanwhile, Hannover Reinsurance Co. told Reuters that its payouts for the quake and for Xynthia would be €185 million and €40 million ($252.0 million and $54.5 million), respectively.

Several other companies also reported preliminary loss estimates last week, including:

c Everest Re Group Ltd., which projected payouts of $225 million for the earthquake and $25 million for the storm.

c Flagstone Reinsurance Holdings Ltd. said it expects claims of about $50 million from the earthquake and up to $6 million as a result of Windstorm Xynthia.

c PartnerRe Ltd., which said it expects claims of $220 million to $320 million from the earthquake and claims of $40 million to $70 million from Xynthia.

c Platinum Underwriters Holdings Ltd. said claims from the earthquake in Chile account for most of the $85 million in catastrophe losses it has sustained so far this year. The estimate, which is net of retrocessional coverage, reinstatement premiums and tax benefits, also includes hailstorm losses in Melbourne, Australia, and claims from East Coast winter storms in the United States, the reinsurer said.

c RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. did not provide estimates but said that the impact of the earthquake and Xynthia on its financial results “will be significant and could be material.”

c France's SCOR S.E. estimated its costs from the earthquake at €95 million ($ million) before tax and said it also expects costs of €27 million ($ million) from the earlier earthquake in Haiti. SCOR put its pretax Xynthia costs at €35 million ($ million).

c Validus Holdings Ltd. estimated its Chilean earthquake losses at between $170 million and $270 million and its Xynthia losses at $20 million to $30 million.

Jeff Casale contributed to this report.