The Hellenic Association of Insurance Companies (HAIC) completed the survey of its insurance company members to arrive at a preliminary estimate of losses caused by the devastating fires that affected many areas of Greece in August 2021.
A total of 778 claims were made, with an initial provision for compensation coming to €38.5m.
Of these, 742 claims were for property insurance (estimated payout of €38.3m) and 36 claims were for motor insurance (estimated at €200,000).
Errikos Moatsos, chairman of HAIC’s Property Insurance Committee, commented on the survey:
“The insurance companies operated responsibly and swiftly to document losses and proceed with the compensation process in relation to this terrible event. The destructive fires this summer once again highlighted the low rate of insurance coverage for homes and businesses in Greece. As announced by the Ministry of Finance, in the first 32 days of operation of the state-run platform, 5,768 citizens applied for government support for homes and businesses. There were 742 claims for property insurance on the insurance market, indicating that just 13% of the residences and businesses which suffered losses from the fires were insured. Once again, it becomes apparent in practice that there is a need for a system that relies on pre-existing funding for financial impacts of natural disasters with state and insurance industry participation, as is the case in many advanced economies. The insurance market has the know-how and resources to play a decisive role in covering major natural disasters and ensure the broadest possible coverage for citizens in natural disasters without burdening the stage budget and, by extension, taxpayers, with large sums.”
