As the storm "Ciaran" caused heavy rains and therefore floods throughout Albania, the local insurers’ association brought once again to the attention the issue of the low insurance coverage of the Albanian homes.

From the official data of the Financial Supervision Authority, it appears that in total less than EUR 20 million euros were paid for the period January-September throughout the country for the insurance of properties from natural disasters. Although the figure is by 19% higher that in 9M 2022, the total remains very low, “considering that the vast majority of this figure consists of public property insurance contracts, as well as borrowers, forced by banks to insure properties to enable obtaining loans.”

The entire property insurance portfolio is very low for this year, although floods and fires regularly recur year after year, causing a lot of damage to businesses and individuals. For the portfolios of Property, Responsibilities, Guarantees, for the January-September period, a total of EUR 29.5 million were paid by Albanian individuals and businesses.

The overwhelming part of this value is taken by Fire and Other Property Damage with about 65.33%, followed by General Liability insurance with 25.77% of the total.

The storm “Ciaran” that flooded extended regions in the Northern Italy, has also affected Albania in the end of past week (3 November), causing problems in several cities. In the capital city Tirana, many streets were flooded and the electricity supply suffered. The most problematic areas in the country are expected to be the cities of Shkodra, Lezha, Elbasan, and Korca.