ERGO received twice as many home insurance claims as usual in January 2010, more than half of which were related to water damage. 134 home insurance claims were lodged during the month.

Erko Makienko, the director of ERGO’s Property Damage Department, says that the water-related incidents in homes were the result of pipes bursting or water from melting snow and ice getting into buildings. “The growth in the number of claims is mostly seasonal,” he explained. “The cold has led to heating pipes breaking because they’ve never been put under so much pressure, and water pipes freezing.” While burst pipes are covered by home insurance, Makienko says that damage from melting snow and ice is not covered. “That kind of water damage is usually the result of poor workmanship when the building was constructed, or roofing that’s no longer viable, or insufficient drainage. But none of those things qualify as unforeseeable events. That’s why you should always make sure you have enough proper drainage for melting snow and ice, and if it does cause any damage, you should address any claims to the builder or apartment association.”

Conversely, January saw the number of fire damage claims halve to just six, while the number of break-ins remained at the same level as in January 2009.

ERGO received a total of 1798 claims in January 2010, which is the same amount as in the first month of 2009. The greatest number of claims related to motor hull and motor third party incidents (788 and 566, respectively).

In comparison to the same period in 2009, not only the number of home insurance claims rose but also the number of travel insurance claims, by 38%, and third party claims by 19%.

Use of ERGO’s free roadside assistance service increased more than four-fold in January due to the greater than usual amount of snow and colder temperatures. Due to the prevailing weather, car owners needed most help getting their vehicles started and getting them out of snowdrifts.

ERGO Kindlustus indemnified 1412 insured events to a total value of 34 million kroons in January 2010, which is 33% less than in January 2009.

The greatest amount, 25 million kroons, was for vehicle-related claims, comprising 11 million kroons in motor third party liability insurance and 14 million kroons in motor hull insurance. The greatest growth in January 2010, calculated at 11%, was in the number of home insurance indemnities. At the same time, the overall value of the indemnities paid out decreased compared to January 2009 by 50%. This was due to fewer large claims, such as in the case of fires, and more smaller claims, such as water-related incidents.

ERGO collected insurance premiums to the value of 63 million kroons in January 2010, which is 12.5% less than in January 2009. Sergei Vahnitski, a member of ERGO’s management board, says that the reason for this drop remains the lull on the car sales and real estate markets and strong price competition. However, this has not affected the ordinary balance of types of insurance in the ERGO portfolio. The majority of premiums were collected on types of insurance related to vehicles. The greatest number, to the value of 22 million kroons, were for motor hull insurance.

ERGO Kindlustuse AS is one of the leading insurance companies in Estonia, offering a comprehensive selection of property insurance products to both private clients and businesses. ERGO has 150,000 clients in Estonia, which makes it the second largest company of its kind in the non-life insurance market. ERGO Kindlustus belongs to the ERGO Insurance Group, which has almost 40 million clients in more than 30 countries. The majority shareholder of the ERGO Insurance Group is one of the world’s largest reinsurance groups, Munich Re.

Anu Vahtra-Hellat
Head of Public Relations
tel +372 610 6610
anu.vahtra-hellat(at)ergo.ee