UK 2020 FLOOD LOSS NUDGES DOWN TO £368M

Claims data company Perils has estimated the industry loss from the February 2020 UK floods at £368m. Perils’ final estimate for the event is slightly lower than its previous estimate of £375m, which was released in August 2020. The floods, which affected Wales and England from February 9 to 29, 2020, damaged an estimated 4,800 properties. The floods followed a succession of three extratropical cyclones, Ciara, Dennis, and Jorge, making February 2020 the wettest since records began in 1862. Perils estimated insured losses from UK floods and storms in 2019, including floods in November and December 2019, at £778m. This is in sharp contrast to the 2020/2021 winter storm season, where no windstorm or flood event has yet exceeded Perils loss threshold of €200m.