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Flood losses lower than expected

Posted On: Jun. 24, 2016 12:00 AM CST

Flood damage in the United Kingdom in the three-week period from late December to early January caused a total of £538 million ($772.5 million) in insured property market loss, the Zurich-based data collection firm Perils A.G. said Tuesday.

This was Perils' third lost estimate for the flood damage for the floods linked to the storms Eva and Frank and other low pressure systems from Dec. 25 to Jan. 14, down from the firm's earlier estimate of £578 million ($830.0 million).

Perils estimated windstorm losses for the same period to be in the low double-digit millions and are not part of the firm's flood loss estimate.

The loss estimate for the “Eva-Frank floods” is also separate from the market loss caused by December's “Desmond Floods.”

The combined industry loss estimates for both events resulted in a total insured flood loss of £1.135 billion ($1.63 billion), with 62% stemming from commercial property lines and 38% from residential property lines.

Eduard Held, Perils head of products, said in a statement that “these datasets will be useful for model calibration and market benchmarking purposes.”