U.S. Winter Storm Losses Mount

As my kids head off for their snowy-themed day at camp, the statistic that jumps off the page in the 2015 Half-Year Natural Catastrophe Review jointly presented by Munich Re and the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.) is the record $2.9 billion (and counting) in aggregate insured losses caused by the second winter of brutal cold across the Northeastern United States.

As Munich Re illustrates in the following slide, a total of 11 winter storm and cold wave events resulted in 80 fatalities and caused an estimated $3.8 billion in overall economic losses in the period from January 2015 to the end of winter:

But the $2.9 billion in insured losses goes higher still when you factor in 2014’s contribution to winter storm losses.

As Munich Re America notes in a press release, if the harsh U.S. winter of 2014/15 is taken as a whole, then the insured losses rise to $3.2 billion and overall economic losses to $4.3 billion.

And this figure does not include indirect losses due to delayed flights, power failures and business interruptions.

As Tony Kuczinski, president and CEO of Munich Re America, says:

The fact that, once again, tens of thousands of people were temporarily left without electricity shows that the U.S. simply must invest in stronger, more weather resilient, infrastructure.”

And when you consider that losses from snow, ice, freezing and related causes typically cost insurers between $1 billion and $2 billion annually, as noted by Dr. Robert Hartwig, I.I.I. president, the impact of the exceptionally cold winter of 2014/15 really starts to bite.