THE FIFTEEN MOST COSTLY WORLD INSURANCE LOSSES, 2009 (1)

($ millions)

Rank Date Location Event Insured loss in U.S. dollars
1 Jan. 24 France, Spain Winter storm Klaus, winds up to
170 km/h; heavy rain
$3,372
2 Feb. 10 U.S. Thunderstorms, winds up to 145 km/h; hail 1,350
3 Jul. 23 Switzerland, Austria,
Poland et al.
Hail storm Wolfgang, winds up to
130 km/h
1,193
4 Apr. 9 U.S. Tornadoes, storms, winds up to
105 km/h; hail
1,130
5 Feb. 7 Australia Victorian bush fires, winds up to
100 km/h
1,079
6 Jun. 10 U.S. Thunderstorms, winds up to 128 km/h 1,050
7 Mar. 25 U.S. Thunderstorms with hail 995
8 Jul. 20 U.S. Storms, heavy rain, hail 800
9 May 26 France, Germany, Belgium Hail storm Felix, winds up to 90 km/h 760
10 Oct. 8 Japan Typhoon Melor/No. 18, winds up to
204 km/h
615
11 May 7 U.S. Storms, thunderstorms, winds up to
145 km/h; floods
570
12 Apr. 1 Canada Losses to crops due to drought 569
13 Jan. 26 U.S. Winter storm, snow, ice, power outages 565
14 Apr. 6 Italy Earthquake (Mw 6.3), aftershocks 502
15 Jun. 5 U.S. Storms, hail, heavy rain; floods 500

(1) Property and business interruption losses, excluding life and liability losses. Loss data shown here may differ from figures shown elsewhere for the same event due to differences in the date of publication, the geographical area covered and other criteria used by organizations collecting the data.

Source: Swiss Re, sigma, No. 1/2010; ISO's Property Claims Services (PCS) unit, insured losses for natural catastrophes in the United States.