France has recently experienced heat waves, hail or storms. These bad weather can damage homes, cars, as well as destroy crops, which quickly raises the bill of insurers. From June 2 to 5, in just three days, they cost them almost 1 billion euros, according to France insurer, which represents the sector. This billion euros comes on top of more than 320 million euros already estimated for the climatic damage at the end of May.
Natural disasters being more and more numerous and close together, they are therefore more and more expensive for professionals. Roughly speaking, they cost them one billion euros per year in the 1980s, double in the 1990s. Since 2015, it has been around four billion euros per year and it will get even worse. Because by 2050, according to professional forecasts, there will be even more floods, droughts or hail. We will exceed ten billion euros annually for the insurance sector.
The price of home insurance has already started to increase, on average by 30% in ten years. These additional costs vary according to the place of residence: in the South-East or Paca regions, the prices have already increased significantly more than in Brittany, which is less exposed to the vagaries of the weather. It’s far from over: the average price of home insurance promises to quadruple by 2050.
According to industry experts, we must also expect more and more refusals of insurance. If you are in an area, in a territory with high climatic risks, you will have a hard time finding a company that insures your property, your house, or your car. Because the insurance works on a pooling system. The premiums, that is to say what you pay through your monthly payments, will finance the compensation that insurers pay in the event of problems and damage.
Even if they are increased, these insurance premiums may no longer be sufficient. Hence the selection of files that insurers plan to make, to keep only customers who may not cost them too much, who are not too exposed to a claim.