Insured disaster losses down in 2014

A worker cleans up glass from a broken skylight that was damaged by hail in the Berkshire Mall in Wyomissing, Pa., Thursday, May 22, 2014. The most costly insured catastrophe loss in 2014 came from th/ AP

Despite 189 natural catastrophes last year — the highest number in the company's records — both economic and man-made insured disaster losses were lower in 2014 than in 2013, according to a Swiss Re Ltd. report published Wednesday.

Insured losses from natural catastrophes and man-made disasters totaled $35 billion in 2014, while economic losses reached about $110 billion, according to the Swiss Re sigma study.

Natural catastrophes accounted for $28 billion of the $35 billion in insured losses and $101 billion of the $110 billion in economic losses in 2014, according to the study.

In 2013, meanwhile, natural catastrophes and man-made disasters caused total economic losses of $138 billion, of which $129 billion were the result of natural catastrophes, the study showed; insured losses from natural catastrophes in that year were $37 billion, while man-made disasters caused insured losses of $8 billion.

The most costly insured catastrophe loss in 2014 came from thunder and hailstorms in the United States in May, which resulted in insured losses of $2.9 billion.

A snowstorm in Japan in February caused insured losses of $2.5 billion, according to the study, while wind and hail storm Ela, which affected parts of Belgium, France and Germany in June, caused insured losses of $2.2 billion.

“The frequency of catastrophic events appears to be increasing, with a record number of catastrophes last year,” Kurt Karl, Swiss Re's chief economist, said in a statement.

Lack of insurance cover is a concern in many areas, the study said.

For example, the largest loss of life from a natural catastrophe in Europe in 2014 was 82 deaths caused by heavy rain in Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia in May. Total economic losses from that event were estimated at about $3 billion, the study said, but were largely uninsured.

There are underinsured areas in the United States as well, the study said.

For example, California's South Napa earthquake in August caused structural and inventory damage of about $700 million, the report said, but the insured loss was only $160 million.