Recent German floods are likely to cost insurers about €1 billion ($1.53 billion), hitting underwriting profits but leaving credit profiles intact, according to Fitch Ratings.

The sum is equivalent to all expected natural catastrophe losses into Fitch’s forecasts for this year.

However, excess-of-loss reinsurance will “cushion the impact”, the ratings agency says.

Fitch has revised its estimate for the German non-life insurance sector’s combined operating ratio from 93% to 95%.

Most claims arising from the storms are in homeowners, contents and motor insurance cover, plus some business interruption cover.

Economic losses are expected to exceed €1 billion, with about one-third of home insurance policies in Germany excluding natural hazard cover.

Munich Re says the intense storms have shown many German homes to be underinsured.

Head of Geo Risks Research and Corporate Climate Centre Peter Hoeppe says while 90% of building owners are covered for wind and hailstorms, only 38% are covered for water-related damage from heavy rain.

He says the floods demonstrate how such events can occur “almost anywhere”, regardless of proximity to large rivers.

“The locations that have most recently been particularly affected…are almost entirely in areas classified as lowest hazard, making them very easily insurable,” Professor Hoeppe said.

While preventative measures such as sealed cellars and retention basins can help, they could not protect against the extreme events of the past week.

Professor Hoeppe says heavy rainfall in France, Germany and Austria that led to the flooding was not unusual, but the fact it was concurrent with almost stationary showers and thunderstorms was.

“The scientific community has not yet been able to provide clear answers as to whether climate change is influencing the frequency and intensity of the kind of weather conditions we are currently seeing.”

The number of large loss events and normalised loss events due to convective storms has increased since 1980, according to Munich Re data.

The Loing River in France experienced its worst flood since 1910 earlier this month, forcing 5000 people to leave their homes. In Paris some metro stations and tourist locations were closed as the Seine approached the six-metre mark, the highest level since 1982.