Achmea pays out over EUR 100 million to customers hit by January storms

Achmea expects to pay out over 100 million euros to customers who were affected by the storms that hit the Netherlands on 3 and 18 January of this year. This has become evident now that we have received virtually all the storm damage claims from our customers. As the parent company of companies such as Centraal Beheer, Interpolis, FBTO and Avéro, Achmea is market leader non-life insurance in the Netherlands.

The first storm on 3 January 2018 caused extensive damage in the provinces of Noord-Holland, Friesland and Flevoland in particular. The second storm on 18 January was exceptionally severe, with wind speeds in excess of 120 kilometres per hour and principally affected the provinces of Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland, Utrecht, Flevoland, Gelderland, Overijssel and the Ijsselmeer area. Because this storm also swept across the interior of the country, which happens relatively rarely, the total number of customers affected increased significantly. Wind speeds of gale force 11 were registered, making it one of the ten most severe storms of the past 50 years. The damage inflicted by both storms to houses, business premises, cars and gardens was mainly caused by roof tiles that had blown off, uprooted trees and flattened fences.

Following the 18 January storm, Centraal Beheer, FBTO and Interpolis received 62,000 claims from private customers and had more than 100,000 customer contacts. This does not include the damage to businesses and the agricultural sector. To settle the claims as fast as we could, we assisted our customers online where possible. Almost half of all private claims were handled online.

Willem van Duin, chairman of the Executive Board of Achmea: “The two storms that swept over our country in January caused a lot of damage and personal distress. Fortunately, as an insurance company, we are able to rectify the material damage as best we can, which is why customers choose us. This means that our customers can count on us. As an insurer, we are seeing an increase in the number of claims as a result of extreme weather. In the Netherlands, we need to adapt to a changing living environment and climate. Working in the insurance industry, we find ways of collaborating with our customers and the authorities to limit the cost of claims and the inconvenience to everybody.”

The claims will be accounted for in our results over the first half of 2018, to be announced on 16 August 2018. On March 22, 2018, Achmea will publish its annual results over 2017.