Ljubljana – Excessive climate occasions in Europe have triggered 500 billion euros of financial harm over the previous 40 years, lower than a 3rd of which was insured. Slovenia ranks among the many international locations with the best financial harm per capita, as final yr’s floods alone triggered practically 900 million euros in direct harm, whereas insurance coverage payouts are estimated at 152.3 million euros, as highlighted final week at a global convention beneath the auspices of the Insurance coverage Supervision Company (AZN).
Finance Minister Klemen Boštjančič famous that nearly a fifth of the inhabitants in Slovenia doesn’t have their residences insured, as discovered by the Institute for Financial Analysis. He acknowledged that the so-called insurance coverage hole must be addressed. “Local weather change is right here,” he stated. In keeping with Boštjančič, the ministry is getting ready systemic options, together with advantages for these with sure insurances. They’re establishing a working group that can embrace representatives from the federal government, AZN, the Slovenian Insurance coverage Affiliation, and others.
In keeping with Boštjančič, the state’s precedence after the floods in August final yr was to revive the scenario as quickly as doable. “We adopted quite a few measures, emergency laws, and secured financing from numerous sources,” he recalled. Now, it’s necessary to lift folks’s consciousness of the dangers of pure disasters and to insure their property. “Everybody should take their share of duty,” he added.
“Final yr was the warmest yr in nearly two centuries, Slovenia was hit by frost, hail, and catastrophic floods,” stated AZN director Gorazd Čibej. Consequently, insurance coverage firms paid out file payouts for pure catastrophe insurance coverage, totaling over 330 million euros. Nonetheless, there stays a big so-called insurance coverage hole in safety in opposition to pure disasters, he warned. In keeping with the institute’s findings, the insurance coverage hole for floods is estimated at about 60 p.c of households, and for earthquakes, it exceeds 70 p.c. (September 10)