Converium Estimates Kyrill Claims between $32 to $46 Million

Swiss-based reinsurer Converium has estimated that its gross claims for winter storm Kyrill will be around €25 to €35 million ($32.5 to $46.5 million). Converium said its estimates were “based on an assumed industry loss of roughly €5-7 billion [$6.5-$9.1 billion].”

The bulletin noted that “Kyrill made landfall with hurricane-force winds in Europe on 18 January 2007. Its unusually large footprint created significant damage in eight countries.”

Converium’s CFO Paolo De Martin noted: “Kyrill serves as a reminder that winter storms are a major natural peril in Europe, demonstrating the core role of reinsurance in risk mitigation. Converium’s losses from the storm reflect our strong market position in Continental Europe and are in line with our projections for a European storm loss which we would expect to occur every five to eight years. The large geographical scale of the event and the extremely high number of small losses mean there is still a degree of uncertainty.”

Converium indicated that its coverage in property and motor (auto) lines of business in Germany and Austria were the hardest hit, while the “U.K., France, Belgium, the Netherlands and several other Northern and Central European countries experienced smaller insured losses.”