Abāšins said that about 2,700 applications were received for property damage, about 600 for car damage, and about 150 for storm damage to crops.
The total amount of damage reported to insurers is around €7 million.
The average claim for damaged properties and cars is €2,000, but, as Abāšins said, these amounts range from a few hundred to tens of thousands.
Meanwhile, the average claim for agricultural fields is €16,000.
Abāšins told Latvian Television that the number of applications is expected to increase, as the extent of the damage caused by the storm is yet to be estimated. “It looks like this will be the biggest storm in decades in terms of the number of applications,” Abāšins said.
The damage to crops could be clear sooner, as crops will soon have to be harvested, while cleaning up properties, including various construction works, could take up to half a year. “The first money, the first advances, have already gone to customers. It is difficult to say when the last ones will come because construction is an inconvenient business. The machines will be repaired fairly quickly, and the sowings will be clear fairly quickly, but construction is always a process. The last settlements will definitely be six months from now,” Abāšins said.
Abāšins acknowledged that in recent years the number of claims to insurers for damage caused by natural disasters has been increasing.
“Over the last 30 years, natural disasters in Latvia have become more frequent. If we used to think that we were the ‘silent ear of God’, where almost none of the natural disasters happen, it is clear that natural disasters will happen here more and more often,” Abāšins said. “This is not my opinion, but the opinion of the intelligent people at the meteorological tests, the researchers who look at the statistics.”
The number of customers for insurers is also growing every year, mostly in places where accidents have already happened. Currently, around 40% of private property and 70-80% of legal property is insured in Latvia. Abāšins argued that natural persons should be more actively insured.
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