Inflation should progressively affect home insurance and, to a lesser extent, the “all risk” formulas offered to motorists. And, for once, the war in Ukraine has nothing to do with it. The cause of this foreseeable increase is climatic.
Every year, an insurer looks at what it has cost for the claims it has covered and the amounts it has collected from its policyholders. It is what is called in insurance jargon, the claims/premiums ratio. There has to be a balance between the two.
€10 billion in damages reimbursed in 2022
However, it turns out that in 2022, insurers as a whole were faced with a record level of damages linked to extreme weather events. The total cost was estimated at 10,000 million euros, while in recent years it was more between 3,000 and 4,000 million euros. Just for claims related to bad weather (storms, tornadoes, storms) the bill amounts to 6,600 million euros.
For cars, the main problem is hail. At the beginning of summer, between the beginning of June and the end of July, stormy episodes accompanied by exceptional hail caused a record number of damages, especially to vehicles. In a few days, insurers received nearly 600,000 claims, of which 337,000 related to cars, according to figures provided to the Parisian by the Natural Risks Mission.
Drought-related crack bill skyrockets
For housing, the list of covered damages is much longer. Notably, climate change is also more drought. And the prolonged absence of rain causes significant damage to homes. Due to a phenomenon called shrinkage swelling of clayey soils. In the complete absence of water in the soil, the clay shrinks and causes cracks in the walls of buildings.
In 2022, these types of claims cost insurers 2.5 billion euros. And the drought that is coming for this year is not going to help. Since, according to a report by the Court of Auditors, more than one house in two in France is built on clay soil with, therefore, a potential risk of cracks. The risk therefore affects more than ten million households. Insurers also predict that the cost of these claims will triple in the next few years.
Source: BFM TV
