For the second year in succession, Gartenbau-Versicherung was faced with a claims year that was well above average. More than 50 million euros were paid out to the members of the insurance association or are still to be paid out - to a lesser extent. This is because the shortage of materials and tradesmen continues to cause delays. The claims ratio in direct business was 69%. One in five member companies reported losses in 2022.
In fact, more money was paid out for storm damage than the members put in to guard against this. Storms Ylenia, Zeynep, and Antonia alone, which swept across Germany, France, and the Netherlands for several days in February 2022, caused almost 1,000 losses totaling 11.2 million euros. Another regional focus was the Italian west coast, which was hit several times in the summer by severe storms, including tornadoes. Here, too, claims payments ran into the millions - 4.7 million euros were payable for the largest single event in mid-August 2022 alone.
Hail in France, near Orléans / Image: orleans-drone.com.
Hail & ToBRFV
After
storms, hail was the second most common cause of damage in 2022. In France, in particular, many panes of glass were broken, for example, around the densely populated horticultural center in Orléans. Seven million euros were incurred for hail damage in France in June alone, including almost 5 million euros for the event near Orléans.
Picture on the right: German tomatoes affected by the Jordan virus.
But it was not only natural events that resulted in high payouts. In Germany, most losses in 2022 were caused by a technical failure or quarantine pathogens. For example, the Jordan virus ToBRFV hit several German tomato farms, with damage totals in the six-figure range in each case.
Internationalization and digitization
In view of the last two years, CEO Christian Senft highlights the successful internationalization of the insurer: "The last two years have again shown how important it is to have a broad regional spread of our members. Only this way can we also offer affordable and good protection in these times of climate change." In 2022, the first members in Poland had taken out policies, and as a result, the horticultural insurance company is now active in a total of 8 countries.
Strong growth abroad has also enabled Gartenbau-Versicherung to further expand its qualified claims-handling teams outside Germany in 2022. "A claim in Alsace is handled just as quickly and professionally as in neighboring Baden," emphasizes Senft. "That's because our high standards of service apply everywhere, and we will help every member quickly, competently, and personally. Judging by the feedback we received, this worked out excellently again in 2022."
Storm in Italy. At this company, over 5 hectares of foil tunnels were completely destroyed in Lazio at the end of September 2022.
At the same time, this is also the guiding principle of a digitization project that will start this year, Senft explains. This is because the claims process is to be reformed in order to at least ensure the very high level of member satisfaction in the future while at the same time becoming even more efficient internally. "Our first goal is to react even faster and more comprehensively for our members, certainly in the case of extreme events, which are becoming more likely due to climate change. We also want our teams at headquarters and in the field to have more time to give advice to provide personal support to our members. We are setting out an important new course for this year," Senft concludes.
For more information:
Gartenbau-Versicherung VVaG
Von-Frerichs-Str. 8
65191 Wiesbaden
[email protected]
www.gevau.de