Severe weather damage payouts increase
A Swiss insurer against hail and other weather damage paid out 22 per cent more than the premiums it earned in 2007.
Swiss Hail has announced that the 13,516 claims it approved last year amounted to SFr62.5 million ($62.9 million). Three-quarters of the claims related to hail damage of crops, flowers, berries and vines.
The worst day of hail in 2007 was June 21, when 6,000 cases of damage were reported. Heavy rains in August also drove up the number of claims.
The loss of SFr9.4 million has been compensated from the insurer's reserves, which now stand at SFr173 million.
Although the reserve fund has been dipped into three out of the past four years, the company "remains very solid", Swiss Hail said in its annual report. The value of the cultivated land insured with Swiss Hail has risen to just over SFr2 billion.
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