Swiss Re sees $88 m in tsunami claims

Swiss Reinsurance Co expects to receive claims of less than 100 million francs (about $88 million) from the tsunami disaster in the Indian ocean region.

The world's second largest reinsurer said the claims cost for the insurance industry will be in sharp contrast to the human and economic losses caused by the calamity. The most affected countries are Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia and the Maldives.

Munich Re, the world's largest reinsurer, had estimated it will receive claims of less than 100 million euros (about $136 million) in claims from the disaster.

The Zurich-based Swiss Re said the sheer size of the calamity makes it difficult to provide an exact estimation of the damage, particularly as information from the affected areas is still scarce.

It, however, said the claims will low as insurance penetration in the affected areas and the concentration of value is comparatively low. Most of the insured losses are likely to concern property damage and business interruption.

The per capita property and casualty premiums in the countries affected is around $10, compared with $1,980 in the US.

Swiss Re had on December 16 estimated that insurers will have claims of at least $42 billion in 2004. In 1992, natural disaster claims were the highest at $38 billion as hurricane Andrew struck south Florida in the US causing heavy losses.