Claims and losses

The tropical depression looks set to hit the Sunshine State in the early hours of Saturday morning.

The carrier said flooding in the country would have an impact of EUR55mn on its net results.

Overall figure was driven by a deep winter freeze, hailstorms and wildfires and marked the second highest first-half figure behind 2011.

So far, damage costs caused by the California fire are thought to be below $1bn.

Winds and high temperatures point to potential further growth of the blaze.

NHC says the weather system is likely to threaten Florida by the weekend.

The tropical Atlantic has not seen a single named storm from July 10 to August 9 for the third time since 1955, but experts warn that this does not mean hurricane season is slowing.

The insurer said it had "a tsunami of rate rolling onto the book".

The insurer reported a combined ratio of 283.5%, sharply worse than the 147.9% in Q2 2020.

The carrier benefited from a shrinking of large losses and strong investment returns.

The fire is the second largest in California’s history behind the August Complex Fire last year.

Louisiana insurance department says claims for 2020 hurricanes rise 4% in second quarter; Hurricane Laura now 2nd most expensive.