The wide discrepancy in figures: fires vs summer hail
Two figures are currently circulating about the sad tragedy of the summer that we find particularly interesting to put into perspective., Beyond the disastrous reality they represent for those who have experienced it and the alarming scale of climate change. France Assurances confirmed at the end of August that the fires in Gironde, the Landes and the Var had cost the market around 500 million euros in claims for approximately 25,000 incidents.
What was much less heard is what Covéa said to L’Argus de l’assurance The only May to August hail event could cost him alone around 300 million euros, for 89,000 claims – already the two-thirds of the total fires for the entire market, for a single insurer on a single risk. The profession estimates, without official confirmation from France Assurances or the CCR (Central Reinsurance Fund) to date, a scale of around 1.5 billion euros for hail across the entire sector.
| Indicator | Summer fires (Market) | Hail (Covéa seul) |
| Estimated cost | ~500 Million € | ~300 Million € |
| Number of incidents | 25 000 | 89 000 |
| Type of shock | High unit cost, moderate volume | Mass treatment, risk of rapid congestion |
The real crash test: testing the resistance of processes in the event of a volume shock
The real question posed by these figures is not the viability of the processes on paper., But it is also their ability to withstand a sudden surge in volumes. This is precisely where an operational excellence approach to claims management becomes critical: being able to observe in real time how processes are unfolding to identify and handle the backlog of claims that has been building for several weeks before they generate claims.
The impacts of climate change on claims are increasing year by year, a material reality that is becoming increasingly evident in the face of the climate-skepticism of some governments. In addition to combating climate change and engaging in an ambitious prevention policy, the key issue for insurers is testing the claims management processes against increasing volume shocks.
Process Intelligence and Agentive AI: Absorbing spikes without overwhelming management
That is exactly what we do at Silamir Group For our insurance clients: helping them, through an approach enhanced by data (the process intelligence), to see where their files are really slowing down (and not where they imagine it is slowing down) before acting on the root causes with improvement approaches: agent AI, RPA, refactoring tools and workflows…
If the subject interests you, we would be curious to know how you prepare the response to these shocks. Contact us to discuss it
The main points to remember
How can insurers absorb a shock in the volume of climate-related claims? To cope with the sudden threefold increase in the volume of files, insurers must implement a process intelligence approach. This allows them to identify backlogged files in real time before they generate claims, and then act on the bottlenecks using agentless AI, RPA, and a redesign of management workflows.
Sources:
