On 8 January PWC estimated Christmas storms in the UK would cost insurers up to £400m.
Insurance partner Mohammad Khan said: “”Although there was a lot of rain in January and clearly people have been adversely impacted, the damage to the UK was not nearly as bad as the damage caused by the weather in December.
However, we have revised our total cost estimates upwards, taking into account the January weather. Our expectations are that the insurance industry will have up to £500m of costs from the January and December weather and the economic damage will be £630m.”
Khan said it was too early to determine if the weather would impact insurer results for next year.
PWC insurance catastrophe expert Dom Del Re added: “Claims arising from business interruption could be a significant driver of the overall insured loss. Home and business owners who have planned for flooding will be better equipped to deal with the disruption and damage. Policyholders continually impacted by flooding – even those not in traditional flood plains – should consider taking remedial action on their properties to help mitigate and prevent damage caused by flooding.”
Khan said that, based on weather forecasts, further flash flooding is expected and the cost estimates are likely to rise.
