Risk of European Floods Greater, Eqecat Says

Eqecat Inc., a-risk modeling company, said previous risk models underestimated Europe’s risk from floods. The company plans to release in late June an upgraded version of its German flood model, part of its EuroFlood platform, James Webb, Eqecat product manager, told clients at the company’s 2006 Catastrophe Management Conference this week in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

“Flood events that have struck Europe from the 1990s to the present have shown that exposure to flood events has been underestimated, and the insurance market continues to express concern as to the ability to control exposure to large flood events,” Webb said. “The loss potential is significant: for example, the insured losses from the Elbe River flood event in 2002 amounted to Eur 1.8 billion in Germany alone, and around Eur 2.5 billion across Continental Europe, placing it in the world’s 30 most costly insured losses since 1970 according to Swiss Re,” he said.

“Large flood events can consist of river-based and non-river-based flooding. While Eqecat’s previous German flood model covered river-based flooding only, the new release will cover other types of flooding for all Germany through the use of a new flood modeling methodology.”.

Guy Carpenter & Co. Inc., a global risk and reinsurance specialist and part of the Marsh and McLennan Comapnies, collaborated with Eqecat by providing valuable industry data and validation input, according to Webb.

Webb also noted as part of its EuroFlood platform, the company plans to release its Austria flood model in late summer 2006. This will cover river-based flooding for the Danube River basin, with subsequent plans to extend coverage countrywide with its non-river-based flood modeling solution. EuroFlood’s underlying pan-precipitation event set makes further European expansion viable.

For information, visit www.eqecat.com, or call (510) 817-3100.