Several of the largest insurance companies still have a large backlog after storm Hans, which hit large parts of southern Norway in August. It could be even worse in the future, as there are constantly new danger warnings in various parts of the country. On Monday, for example, rain and snow created trouble in, among other places, Arendal, Bergen and on Austlandet. This kind of weather will probably lead to even more claims being reported to the insurance company – and thus even more backlog. – When this comes now, there will of course be even longer waiting times, confirms Bjarne Aani Rysstad, communications manager at Gjensidige. Customers are asked to be patient. The insurance company works with, among other things, tradesmen. They are responsible for the job of repairing damage themselves, while the insurance pays. But “Hans” destroyed buildings and property worth around NOK 2 billion. As a result, the insurance company’s partners did not have time to repair damage to all customers. Many customers then received a cash settlement, i.e. a sum of money paid out, so that they could fix the damage themselves – instead of waiting for people from the insurance company. Disappointed with the solution One of them was Liv Stidahl from Leirsund in Akershus. While she was evacuated, her basement was filled with water due to the flood. There was no doubt that it was an insurance case. Several meters of water stood between Liv Stidahl and her house when news met her in August. Photo: Fouad Acharki / news And she would like the insurance company to fix the damage for her, as they have done before. – They weren’t interested in that at all. They just wanted to give me money and get it done. Now I am over 80 years old, so it was very inappropriate, says Stidahl. The basic explanation from the company was that they did not have craftsmen to repair the damage. In the end it worked out, with a lot of help from the family. Stidahl was also forced to do a lot himself. Record number of claims in August In total, insurance companies received reports of around 20,000 claims in August, most of them from the storm, according to Stine Neverdal at Finans Noreg. – This is a record number of injuries of this type for the month of August, she says. Thus, it piled up for the insurance company. Gjensidige, for example, still cannot say anything about when they will finish dealing with cases after the storm. – We probably have to ask many customers to be a little patient with us, because there have always been incidents that cause queues in the system, says Rysstad. Bjarne Aani Rysstad in Gjensidige says that new periods of bad weather can result in even longer waiting times for insurance customers. Photo: Mats Stordal Now that the mild weather has reached several places, he fears that it will also lead to even more damage reports. If pipes in a house have frozen, for example, you rarely discover it before the plus degrees come. Several of the companies say the employees have to work a lot of overtime to get rid of the case load. If has also brought in craftsmen from Sweden. – When there are such big events, when there are thousands upon thousands who need help at the same time, the capacity is blown up, describes communications manager Sigmund Clementz. Several of the biggest cases are still pending – We have approximately 300 cases left after “Hans”, says Elin Spjelkavik, head of settlement at Storebrand insurance. That is just under half of all the cases they received after the severe storm. According to Spjelkavik, these are the biggest cases that are still being processed. Storebrand hopes to soon be finished with all matters after storm Hans, says Elin Spjelkavik. Photo: Storebrand – It is typically precisely because they take time to dry up and clean up afterwards, and simply build up again. You can’t start with it until it’s completely dry, she says. She hopes that they will be finished with all these matters during March, despite the fact that the weather continued to cause trouble in several places. – After all, these are stacked on top of each other. The last half year has been a continuous period with a lot of severe weather, and I notice it, says Spjelkavik. They have also noticed this at Fremtind forsikring. – We don’t have a backlog of cases, but it takes time to repair all the damage, because the access to the same professional resources has been extraordinary, says communications manager Anette Grønby Rein.
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The insurance companies still have a backlog from the storm Hans – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
