UK flood insurance losses hit five year high following November deluge, according to Impact Forecasting catastrophe report

CHICAGO, Dec. 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Impact Forecasting, the catastrophe model development center of excellence at Aon Benfield, today releases the latest edition of its monthly Global Catastrophe Recap report, which reviews the natural disaster perils that occurred worldwide during November 2012. Aon Benfield is the global reinsurance intermediary and capital advisor of Aon plc (NYSE:AON).

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The report reveals that the United Kingdom was subject to a period of torrential rain during the month, which killed at least four people and damaged more than 1,100 homes.

A report from professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers noted that the floods were likely to cost insurers as much as GBP500 million (USD800 million).

This would raise UK flood insurance losses to around GBP1 billion (USD1.6 billion) for 2012, making it the costliest flood year since 2007, during which more than GBP3 billion (USD4.8 billion) claims were processed.

Also in Europe, excessive rains prompted flooding along the Drava and Sava rivers in Slovenia, and in neighboring Croatia, damaging more than 4,500 structures and resulting in an economic loss estimated at EUR209 million (USD265 million).

Additional flooding was recorded during the month in Indonesia, Panama, Haiti and Congo.

Steve Jakubowski, President of Impact Forecasting, said: "Europe traditionally suffers periods of flooding throughout the year, and since it is a highly insurable peril across a large proportion of the continent, insurance losses can be significant. We have made advances in our understanding of the flood peril, particularly in the aftermath of the Thailand floods in 2011, and in response, Aon Benfield continues to develop and revise its modelling suite so insurers and reinsurers can better quantify their flood exposures."

Elsewhere in November, a magnitude-7.4 earthquake struck offshore Guatemala, killing at least 52 people and affecting at least 30,870 homes in 21 separate regions. More than GTQ800 million (USD102 million) was made available to assist with the recovery.

Meanwhile, at least 26 people were killed and 231 others were injured after a magnitude-6.8 earthquake struck northern Myanmar. Thousands of homes and other structures were damaged as MMK1 billion (USD1.17 million) was allocated for disaster relief.

In Iran, a magnitude-5.5 earthquake injured at least 55 people, with the majority of damage concentrated in East Azabaijan Province.

Two periods of severe weather impacted Australia during the month, with one stretch particularly affecting areas of southeast Queensland and northern New South Wales. Softball-sized hail caused significant damage, while flash floods and high winds damaged trees and power lines. Local insurers noted that 10,700 home and auto claims had already been filed with payouts expected to reach at least AUD100 million (USD105 million).

Winter weather was also prevalent in November, most notably in China. Two separate waves of winter storms led to a combined USD338 million in economic damages across several provinces.

Also in Asia, Japan and Pakistan both recorded heavy snow and wind events.

In the United States, a Nor'easter affected coastal sections of New England and the Mid-Atlantic nearly one week after Post-Tropical Cyclone Sandy's landfall in late October.

Sandy left 131 people dead in the U.S., and caused at least USD62 billion in economic losses. It is now the second-costliest storm in U.S. history, only behind 2005's Hurricane Katrina.

To view the full November Global Catastrophe Recap report, click the link below:

http://thoughtleadership.aonbenfield.com/Documents/201212_if_monthly_cat_recap_november.pdf

About Impact Forecasting®

Impact Forecasting is a catastrophe modeling center of excellence whose seismologists, meteorologists, engineers, mathematicians, finance risk management and insurance professionals analyze the financial implications of natural and man-made catastrophes around the world.  Impact Forecasting's experts develop software tools and models that help clients understand risks from hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, wildfires and terrorist attacks on property, casualty and crop insurers and reinsurers.  To find out more about Impact Forecasting®, visit www.impactforecasting.com.

About Aon Benfield

Aon Benfield, a division of Aon plc (NYSE: AON), is the world's leading reinsurance intermediary and full-service capital advisor. We empower our clients to better understand, manage and transfer risk through innovative solutions and personalized access to all forms of global reinsurance capital across treaty, facultative and capital markets. As a trusted advocate, we deliver local reach to the world's markets, an unparalleled investment in innovative analytics, including catastrophe management, actuarial and rating agency advisory. Through our professionals' expertise and experience, we advise clients in making optimal capital choices that will empower results and improve operational effectiveness for their business. With more than 80 offices in 50 countries, our worldwide client base has access to the broadest portfolio of integrated capital solutions and services. To learn how Aon Benfield helps empower results, please visit aonbenfield.com.

About Aon
Aon plc (NYSE:AON) is the leading global provider of risk management, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, and human resources solutions and outsourcing services. Through its more than 62,000 colleagues worldwide, Aon unites to empower results for clients in over 120 countries via innovative and effective risk and people solutions and through industry-leading global resources and technical expertise. Aon has been named repeatedly as the world's best broker, best insurance intermediary, reinsurance intermediary, captives manager and best employee benefits consulting firm by multiple industry sources. Visit www.aon.com for more information on Aon and www.aon.com/manchesterunited to learn about Aon's global partnership and shirt sponsorship with Manchester United.

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