Beirut explosions: heavy bill for insurers and reinsurers

The Insurance Control Commission (ICC) of Lebanon, has published a report listing the number of claims filed by the victims of the Beirut explosion of 4 August 2020.

As of 6 November 2020, 14 732 claims have been filed and estimated at 1 658 billion LBP (1.09 billion USD).

The report shows that the sums released as of 6 November 2020 by local insurers to indemnify their customers reached 19.4 billion LBP (12.87 million USD), that is barely 1.17% of the total number of claims. The majority of compensations relate to fire (9.93 billion LBP (6.59 million USD)) and motor insurance (7.25 billion LBP (4.81 million USD).

Reinsurers are believed to have been impacted by 94.5% of the total amount of damages, that is 1 568 billion LBP (1.04 billion USD).

In October 2020, Swiss Re constituted a provision of 222 million USD. As for Munich Re, the company estimated its losses at 100 million EUR (118.6 million USD).

Hannover Re, one of the most important reinsurers of Lebanese companies, has not yet established a loss forecast. The same applies to SCOR, another significant stakeholder in the region.