Fire, thefts, and natural disasters cause damage to enterprises amounting to several million euros annually

In the business world, enterprises have a tendency during challenging times to focus on «keeping afloat» and searching for new opportunities, oftentimes neglecting allegedly less serious matters, such as different threat prevention. However, data aggregated by BTA Baltic Insurance Company AAS (hereinafter – BTA) indicates that enterprises are very often faced with unpleasant misfortunes, whose strength alone might not suffice to tackle their effects. Fire, intentional and accidental action on part of individuals, as well as natural disasters caused by climate change generate loss to Latvian enterprises amounting to several million euros annually. 

Last year, BTA received more than 100 indemnity claims from Latvian enterprises regarding damage to property and thefts. These contain both entirely accidental damage, for example, by bringing down the gate of a plant with a snowplough, and a carefully planned burglary by damaging the alarm system. Disaster recovery costs range from a couple of, up to several, tens of thousands of euros. Average costs of each insured event are above 2000 euros, which are substantial unplanned expenses for small and medium sized enterprises.

Fire has done even more damage to enterprises. Since the beginning of the previous heating season, BTA has indemnified enterprises for loss in the amount of 670 thousand euros. Among the claims were the burning down of a sales kiosk, fire in the premises of an office, as well as the ignition of a trash bin in the yard. The average sum of compensation disbursed in each insured event has exceeded 40 thousand euros, which would already be a severe blow to large enterprises as well if they were not insured.

The Insurer is increasingly receiving indemnity claims for loss caused by natural disasters. In 2022, the amount of insurance claims for climate phenomena increased by approximately 30% in comparison with previous years. It is projected that with each year there will be an increase of 20%. Most often the biggest damage to property of an enterprise is caused by rain and storms. Natural disasters not only damage buildings, break electrical wires or flood territories, but also temporarily halt the activity of an enterprise, sometimes causing real threats of insolvency.

«Upon receiving indemnity claims daily, we see that even very responsible entrepreneurs, who have allegedly thought everything through, encounter misfortunes. That is why they have an insurance policy. Very often a claim is accompanied by an unconcealed astonishment over how the accident could have occurred in the first place – everything seemed safe and nothing bad had occurred for years. Once again, this only confirms that in entrepreneurship it is important to prepare oneself for the least expected turns of events and to take care of insurance as well,» says BTA Insurance Claims Handling Department Director Kārlis Liepiņš.

He also calls on business leaders to responsibly assess their property and to indicate its true value in the insurance contract. There have been instances when a client had insured property for the minimum amount only because the bank, which had lent money for the purchase of property, requested it; however, after a fire broke out, it turned out that the loss is substantially greater than the maximum insurance value provided in the policy. Therefore, the very entrepreneur was obliged to refund the difference to the bank.


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 sole shareholder of BTA is Vienna Insurance Group AG (VIG), the leading insurance group both in Austria and in the entire Central and Eastern European (CEE) region. Around 50 insurance companies in 30 countries form a Group with a long-standing tradition, strong brands and close customer relations. The more than 25,000 employees in the VIG take care of the day-to-day needs of more than 22 million customers. VIG shares have been listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange since 1994. The VIG Group has an A+ rating with stable outlook by the internationally recognised rating agency Standard & Poor's. VIG cooperates closely with the Erste Group, the largest retail bank in Central and Eastern Europe.


Additional information:
Elīna Zvejniece
Marketing and Public Relations Department Director
BTA Baltic Insurance Company AAS
e-mail elina.zvejniece@bta.lv
mobile: +371 29374827