Heavy rainfall and foul weather rampaging in June in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, caused considerable damage to agricultural crops, as well as property and cars - BTA Baltic Insurance Company AAS (hereinafter – BTA) has already received insurance indemnity claims for over 1.33 million euros.

“Heavy rain and strong wind caused significant damage to crops, mainly to winter wheat, moreover, cars and property was damaged, besides insurance indemnities are still being claimed,” – says BTA Insurance Claims Handling Department director Kārlis Liepiņš.

Altogether, in Latvia, according to the volume of indemnities damage caused to cars was marked by the largest number of claims – more than 300 000 euros. However, the largest insurance claims were received for damage caused by heavy rain and strong wind – about 10 000 euros each – claims for damage to crops, because in several locations crops got lodged and that endangered the new harvest considerably. So far, more than 100 000 euros were claimed in insurance indemnities for damage to crops. Moreover, in June, in Latvia more than 250 000 euros were claimed in insurance indemnities for damage to real estate.

In Lithuania, rainy and windy weather caused the largest damage to KASKO policy customers, because insurance indemnities for over 400 000 euros were claimed by car owners. 265 000 euros were also claimed for various property damage. While in Estonia, residents experienced the least hassle from adverse weather conditions – in this neighbouring country insurance claims for damaged cars amounted to over 15 000 euros.

State Fire and Rescue Service of Latvia (LV – VUGD) went on 20 calls concerning damage caused by heavy rain and strong wind in Riga, and altogether there were six cars damaged by fallen trees. Calls were generally related to removal of fallen trees.

In Latvia, on the 1^st of July occasional thunderstorm is expected with severe wind gusts of 15-18 m/s, while coastal Latvia might experience even 20 m/s gusts, according to the forecasts of the Latvian Centre for Environment, Geology and Meteorology.

BTA encourages you to insure your property against the risks of such accidents, and exercise caution during stormy weather, avoiding parking cars underneath trees and timely making sure having tightly fixed windows, roofs and other parts of buildings.

About BTA

BTA Baltic Insurance Company is one of the leading insurance companies in the Baltics, offering the broadest range of non-life insurance services in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. BTA employs more than 1,000 employees in the Baltics. The largest shareholder of BTA is Vienna Insurance Group AG with close to 200 years of experience in the insurance business. With about 50 companies in 25 countries and more than 25,000 employees, Vienna Insurance Group is a clear market leader in its CEE markets. Vienna Insurance Group is the best-rated company of ATX, the leading index of Vienna Stock Exchange with a rating of A+ with stable outlook from Standard & Poor’s; its share is also listed on the Prague Stock Exchange.

Additional information:

Elīna Rasmane

Marketing and Public Relations Department Director

BTA Baltic Insurance Company AAS

e-mail elina.rasmane@bta.lv