Storm Ophelia to cost FBD from €4m to €6m

Dublin-listed insurer FBD said on Tuesday that Storm Ophelia was set to cost it between €4 million and €6 million, adding that barring further inclement weather the group was set to hit its financial targets earlier than previously indicated.

FBD said it was still too early to give a final figure on both the total number and gross cost of claims from the storm, and that its new reinsurance programme provided “good cover in extreme events, and this will mitigate the net cost to FBD”.

So far claims have come from all over the country, with the largest number to date coming from Cork and Tipperary, FBD said.

However, it added that the cost of claims (net of reinsurance) would be € 2.5 million. The overall net impact to the income statement is expected to cost in the range of €4 million to € 6 million. This was due to the payment of an additional reinsurance premium to reinstate its catastrophe weather limits for the balance of the year.

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FBD chief executive Fiona Muldoon said that despite the impact of the storm, and other recent weather-related claims, the insurer continued to see a steady improvement in its financial performance from both better risk selection and improved price adequacy.

“Absent further severe weather in 2017, we are now on course to deliver our targeted low double-digit return on equity earlier than previously indicated. If the remainder of 2017 is reasonably benign in weather terms we believe this return is achievable in this financial year.”

It is not yet known how much last week’s weather events will cost insurers, but it is expected to be less than the €111 million cost from Storm Darwin, which struck the country 3½ years ago.