PERILS announces market loss of €60m because of Storm Ophelia

PERILS AG has today disclosed its market loss numbers for Ex-Hurricane Ophelia which affected Ireland and the United Kingdom on 16 and 17 October 2017.

Ophelia was a very rare European windstorm as it resulted from a tropical cyclone travelling much further east across the North Atlantic than usual. It was the largest hurricane ever recorded that far east in the North Atlantic Basin.

Most of the damage caused by the storm occurred in the Republic of Ireland.

PERILS report that the insured property market loss from Ophelia is estimated at around €60m, with €49m incurred in Ireland and £10m in the United Kingdom.

PERILS’ loss was estimate based on loss data collected from affected insurers post-event.

Luzi Hitz, chief executive of PERILS commented: “In the aftermath of Ophelia, some reports suggested that losses from the event in Ireland alone could reach $1.8bn. After our loss data collection from affected insurance companies, we can conclude that the impact was much less severe, and that the insured loss is entirely manageable by the insurance and reinsurance industries.”