Disasters to cost Lloyd’s €3.8bn

Lisbon: Lloyd’s of London, the world’s oldest insurance market, said losses from this year’s natural disasters in Japan, New Zealand and Australia will cost about $3.8 billion, making it the costliest first quarter on record.

The Japanese quake and tsunami in March will cost Lloyd’s about $1.95bn in claims, less than a tenth of the total estimated $30bn total loss for the industry.

Claims from the New Zealand earthquake may total $1.2bn, and flooding in Australia may cost $650m.

The Japanese quake is the fourth-largest single loss in the history of Lloyd’s and the biggest outside the US. Together, the catastrophes may cut full-year profit for Lloyd’s insurers by up to 70%. The company insurers typically faces its biggest losses in the third quarter, the height of the US hurricane season.