Blatten landslide caused damage totalling CHF255 million

Keystone-SDA

A year ago a collapsing glacier buried and destroyed large parts of the village of Blatten in the Lötschental valley in canton Valais. The disaster on May 28, 2025, also posed major challenges for the insurance industry.

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The total insured loss from the landslide in Blatten is estimated at CHF255 million ($325 million). Around CHF240 million of this is attributable to losses within the natural hazard pool, according to the pool’s annual financial statements published on Tuesday.

The natural hazard pool is an association of private insurers for better risk equalisation in the event of natural hazard damage. The pool buys reinsurance cover for its members on the global market for joint account.

+ Understanding the Blatten disaster

A total of CHF210 million would have been affected by damage to buildings, CHF30 million to household contents and movables. An additional CHF15 million would be attributable to insured losses outside the loss pool, such as business interruption and motor vehicle hull damage.

The Swiss Insurance Association (SIA) writes in a press release that the private insurers provided unbureaucratic and rapid support to those affected in Blatten. Just four months after the event, more than 80% of the insured sums for buildings and household contents were paid out for total losses.

Insurers whose losses in Blatten were below average in relation to their market share throughout Switzerland also made substantial contributions, the SIA added. These funds were passed on to particularly affected companies.

Adapted from German by AI/ts

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