Emilia-Romagna Italy flood industry loss raised another 4% to €509m by PERILS

The insurance and potentially reinsurance industry loss continues to creep higher from the severe flooding in Europe that impacted the Emilia-Romagna Region of Italy in May 2023, with PERILS adding another 4% to its estimate to take it to €509 million.

PERILS initial estimate reported in July was for an industry loss of just €377 million, based on data reported by Italian insurers and only covering the property line of business.

PERILS industry loss estimate for this event covers flooding that had occurred in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy during the period of 2nd to 22nd May 2023.

As we said before, it is a particularly lengthy event duration. But, flood insurance claims can often be filed weeks after an event occurs, so it’s a good way to capture as many claims as possible, even if it falls outside of the typical hours clauses used across the insurance and reinsurance industry.

PERILS then hiked the industry loss estimate by 30% in August, lifting it to €488 million as greater clarity over the extent of the claims burden emerged.

Now, the total has risen again, with the third loss estimate from PERILS placed at €509 million, another 4% increase.

PERILS explained in this latest update that its loss estimates for Italy cover the property line of business and are based on loss data collected from affected insurance companies which are subsequently grossed up to 100% market level

The Italian government had estimated that the economic loss from the flooding would be around EUR 9 billion, with roughly 50% attributable to damage to public infrastructure.

The other 50% relates to losses to privately owned residential, commercial, and agricultural property, of which only a small portion is covered by insurance, as flood insurance is optional in Italy.

The region of Italy was struck by an extended period of low-pressure weather during May, which drove repeat periods of very heavy rains and flooding.

Two main rain storms were seen as triggers for the floods, on 2nd May and then again on 16th and 17th May, when extreme rainfall of over 200mm in 24 hours caused severe inundation and hundreds of landslides across several provinces of the Emilia-Romagna and the Marche regions.

Large cities affected included, Bologna, Cesena, Forli, Faenza, Ravenna, and Rimini , which were impacted by mud-laden overflowing waterways and rain-induced flash flooding.

While, the persistent and stationary nature of the rain storms led to large local water accumulations, overwhelming the capacity of rivers and urban drainage systems.