With an average annual cost comprised between 650 and 850 million EUR (790 and 1 033 million USD), floods, second to storms, account for the most onerous risk in France.
The urban areas located in the agglomerations of Paris and Lyon are prone to major claims. In the Paris area, a flood similar to that of 1910 would trigger direct losses estimated at 17 billion EUR (20.6 billion USD). Indirect costs caused by operating losses, the disruption of road networks and the energy supply chain could be between 30 and 40 billion EUR (36 to 48 billion USD).
In order to help ceding companies appraise the level of coverage, Scor and Aon Benfield have developed a tool designed for the modeling of flood risks. This software can, with the help of some hydrometric and historical data, estimate with a high degree of accuracy the events affecting the urban areas of Paris, Lyon and Toulouse.