Portugal’s insurance industry is bracing itself for further financial damage as claims resulting from the mid-October fires already have hit €200 million.
Damage caused by the fires on October 15 and 16 have seen claims flooding in, over 2,000 so far, with more arriving every day.
The estimated €200 million pay-out will be the biggest loss ever in the history of the Portuguese insurance industry, according to the Portuguese Association of Insurers, headed by José Galamba de Oliveira - but this figure is only the initial assessment of the cost of the damage covered by insurers.
"In a first assessment, insured losses have reached the order of €200 million. So far, more than two thousand claims have been received, but these numbers should increase," the association reports.
Galamba de Oliveira added, "Insurers are on the ground, collecting the necessary information for the management of claims and intend to regularise them as soon as possible so that people and companies can get back to normal."
According to the association, in addition to payouts, its members decided to top-up the Solidarity Fund that was set up at the time of the Pedrógão Grande fires and to support the families of the deceased and of the seriously injured people who did not have insurance.
The association representing the insurance sector stressed that setting up this fund and now topping it up, is an exceptional move.
José Galamba de Oliveira said that "it is important to find structural solutions in terms of fire prevention, training, capacity to assess and anticipate risks, land and forest management, stopping arsonists and other elements that are capable of mitigating the effects of disasters, to minimise their human and economic impact and to supporting those people affected."
De Oliveira added that "the insurance sector already is expressing its willingness to be part of these solutions in the context of its own activity, as is the case in most European countries."
Hundreds of fires broke out on October 15, the worst fire day of the year. The fire was the second most serious in Portugal, after Pedrógão Grande in June. The two incidents cost the lives of over 110 people.
