Esure becomes latest insurer to fall foul of the bad weather
ESURE HAS laid bare the cost of the Beast from the East, with the insurer taking an £8m hit linked to the freak weather in March.
In a first-quarter trading update, the group said it saw claims costs in its home division rocket £6m ahead of forecasts to £8m.
This, Esure said, was linked to the Siberian chill that descended on Britain, as well as Storm Emma.
“During the first quarter, the UK suffered a prolonged freeze event and significant disruption from the Beast from the East and Storm Emma, and this resulted in £8m of claims costs in Home, which is £6m ahead of expectations,” said boss Darren Ogden.
“I would like to thank colleagues for their dedication in helping our customers during this period in what were testing times.”
Nevertheless, Esure said it remains on track to achieve an operating performance similar to 2017 and is “well placed” to deliver profitable growth in 2018, after adjusting for exceptional weather costs.
It comes after rival Direct Line on Wednesday revealed a £50m weather hit and warned that almost its entire annual weather claims budget had been used in the first three months of the year.
In a trading update covering the three months to March 31, Esure said its gross written premiums rose 18 per cent to £221.2m.
It saw a 21 per cent increase in motor premiums to £201.4m.