Floods caused major damage in the Ahr Valley two years ago – but there are still too few insurance companies in Germany.
(Photo: dpa)
Munich The conflict between insurers and German politicians enters another round. On Wednesday, the industry association GDV threatened to double premiums for home insurance over the next ten years. “In some places, building insurance could become so expensive that customers can no longer afford it,” said GDV General Manager Jörg Asmussen.
On Thursday, the Prime Ministers and Chancellor Olaf Scholz will once again discuss possible compulsory insurance against natural hazards such as heavy rain and flooding in Germany. In advance, the industry association calls for far more far-reaching preventive measures from politicians in order to be prepared for the long-term consequences of climate change.
According to this, in the future there will be legal requirements for building, planning and renovation in the state building regulations. The GDV calls for a construction freeze in flood areas. And the sealing of around 55 hectares per day in Germany is to be ended. The government should also set up a nationwide natural hazards portal.
“The introduction of mandatory elementary insurance must go hand in hand with significant environmental protection measures,” says Asmussen. The general manager puts pressure on the country heads before the consultations.
Almost two years after the devastating flood disaster in the Ahr Valley, which, with losses of around 8.5 billion euros, is the most serious and most expensive natural disaster in Germany, progress towards better private security is still limited. Around half of the buildings in the country are currently not insured against heavy rain and flooding. Only Baden-Württemberg, where the so-called elementary protection was compulsory insurance until 1994, stands out with rates of over 90 percent.
Pressure also comes from the countries
In spring, the Federal Council, on the initiative of Baden-Württemberg and North Rhine-Westphalia, called on the Berlin traffic light coalition to take appropriate steps towards comprehensive compulsory insurance against natural hazards. A quarter of a year has passed since then and little has happened. All that is known is that the FDP is opposed to compulsory insurance because of the expected additional costs for citizens.
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However, most insurers, who only offer residential building insurance with elementary protection in new business, are significantly further along. Anyone who does not want the additional module must actively deselect it. In practice, depending on the provider, only around a quarter of customers do this.
But now the usual months of the year with the most severe weather are approaching, in which experts see the risk of severe storms increasing further. The Bank of England recently predicted rising premiums and an increasing number of buildings that are no longer considered insurable due to their exposed location.
Similar tendencies could also exist in Germany. Some insurers could sooner or later even be forced to go out of business because they can no longer bear the corresponding risks, fears Mathias Kleuker, head of the Presidential Committee for Risk Protection at GDV.
More: Natural hazard insurance – insurers are ahead of politics.