THE TWENTY MOST COSTLY WORLD INSURANCE LOSSES, 2012 (1)

($ millions)

Rank Date Country Event Insured loss in U.S. dollars
1 Oct. 24 U.S., et al. Hurricane Sandy   $35,000 (2)
2 Jul. 15 U.S.  Drought in the Corn Belt   11,000 (3)
3 Mar. 2 U.S. Severe storms, tornadoes   2,500
4 Apr. 28 U.S. Thunderstorms, large hail, tornadoes   2,500
5 Jun. 28 U.S. Derecho storm with winds up to 146 km/h, tornadoes, hail   2,000
6 May 25 U.S. Thunderstorms, hail, tornadoes   1,700
7 May  Italy Earthquakes (Mw 5.9 and Mw 5.8), aftershocks   1,622
8 Aug. 26 U.S., et al. Hurricane Isaac   1,600 (4)
9 Jun. 6 U.S. Thunderstorms, large hail, tornadoes   1,000
10 Jun. 11 U.S. Thunderstorms, large hail, tornadoes   950
11 Apr. 13 U.S. Thunderstorms, more than 100 tornadoes, hail, flooding (Wichita)   910
12 Apr. 3 Japan   Storms with winds up to 150 km/h   841
13 Jun.  U.K. Floods caused by heavy rains (two events)   813
14 Nov. 23 U.K. Floods caused by heavy rains   813
15 Apr. 28 U.S. Thunderstorms, tornadoes, hail, heavy rains   775
16 Aug. 12 Canada Hailstorm 532
17 Jan. 13 Italy Cruise liner Costa Concordia capsizes after hitting rocks 515
18 Jun. 24 U.S. Waldo Canyon Fire; 346 houses destroyed 450
19 Jan. 4 Germany, et al. Windstorm Andrea 443
20 Mar. 31 Germany Explosion at chemical plant (5)

(1) Property and business interruption losses, excludes life and liability losses. Includes flood losses in the U.S. insured via the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). 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.
(2) Includes $20 to $25 billion of private insurance industry loss and flood claims covered by the NFIP.
(3) Includes losses from federal multiple peril crop insurance.
(4) Includes flood claims covered by the NFIP.
(5) Data not publicly available.

Source: Swiss Re, sigma, No. 2/2013; The Property Claim Services (PCS) unit of ISO, a Verisk Analytics company, insured losses for natural catastrophes in the United States.