Climate disasters cost French insurers €6.5bn in 'worrying uptick'

Climate disasters in France cost insurers €6.5 billion in 2023 – a worrying increase in claims that comes as temperature records are successively broken.

Last year was the third “most severe” in terms of climate-related claims after 1999 and 2022, industry federation France Assureurs (French Insurers) has said – citing destruction from storms Ciaran and Domingos, which lashed parts of the north-west.

Numerous extreme weather events took place in 2023 – the second warmest year in France after 2022, France Assureurs president Florence Lustman told the French news agency AFP.

Among them were 15 wind storms with gusts of more than 150km/h, and 14 floods that each hit more than a dozen towns. Storms Ciaran and Domingos alone led to 517,000 claims costing €1.6 billion.

'Successive thresholds'

"We are reaching successive thresholds in the cost of climate risk," Lustman said.

From 2000 to 2008, France averaged €2.7 billion per year – a figure that rose to €3.7 billion between 2010 and 2019.

"If I take the average over the last four years, including 2022 and 2023, I'm at €6 billion," Lustman added.

However the costliest year so far remains 1999, which was marked by storms Lothar and Martin, racking up a damage bill of €13.8 billion. That was followed by 2022, when climate events cost insurers €10 billion.

Floods and droughts are considered natural disasters, with the French state bearing half of the cost burden – but hail and other storm damage to homes is the responsibility of insurers.