Thomas Holzheu, Chief US Economist for Swiss Re
Stations, the following is a news announcement. Suggested lead in 3, 2, 1…
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A study from Swiss Re reveals that natural catastrophes and man-made disasters in 2012 caused economic losses of 186 billion dollars with approximately 14,000 lives lost. Large scale weather events in the U.S. pushed the total insured claims for the year to 77 billion dollars, which is the third most expensive year on record for the insurance industry.
Thomas Holzheu, Chief US Economist for Swiss Re, says 2012 was dominated by large, weather-related losses, and nine of the ten most expensive insured loss events happened in the U.S.
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IN THE 150 YEARS WE HAVE BEEN COVERING CATASTROPHES, THE SOCIETIES THAT HAVE DEMONSTRATED THE MOST RESILIENCE FOLLOWING A DISASTER ARE THOSE THAT HAVE HAD INSURANCE TO HELP REBUILD AND RECOVER. THIS WAS CLEARLY DEMONSTRATED AFTER SANDY LAST YEAR. HOWEVER, THERE ARE LARGE PARTS OF THE GLOBE THAT ARE PRONE TO WEATHER EXTREMES AND HAVE LOW INSURANCE COVERAGE, AND THIS HAS A DIRECT IMPACT ON THEIR ABILITY TO RECOVER.
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For the full study, visit swissre.com.