The floods and storms that hit Slovenia in the summer of 2023, causing historically high levels of damage, particularly highlighted the value and importance of adequate insurance against natural disasters. But how to identify the risks to your property and which insurance to choose to maximise financial security in the event of damage? To this end, the leading Slovenian insurance company has developed a new functionality within the i.triglav digital office. It allows policyholders to check the level of their property’s exposure to floods, hail, lightning and earthquakes.
The memory of the storms and floods that ravaged Slovenia last year has not yet faded, and many people have recently been looking anxiously to the skies due to the warnings about storms and hail from various meteorological authorities. (Extreme) weather phenomena and the associated mass loss events are occurring more and more frequently, in increasingly severe forms, taking us by surprise at unexpected times of the year. While there is no way to prevent such disasters, you can prepare as much as possible for the (un)foreseeable.
With no idea that Slovenia would be affected by severe storms and floods in the coming summer, experts warned at a Triglav Lab event in May 2023 that extreme weather events would become more frequent and more intense. Watch the video here.
Check the risk rating for your property
Zavarovalnica Triglav has added a natural disaster risk rating for all property addresses entered in the i.triglav digital office. There it is possible to check the risk level for natural phenomena such as floods, hail, lightning and earthquakes. If a property is assessed to be at a high risk for a particular hazard, then it is recommended that policyholders check the coverages and sums insured, and make sure they are adequately covered. If they do not already have insurance, they can take out a policy directly from i.triglav or their insurance agent. If they already have home insurance but do not have adequate additional coverage (e.g. for floods or earthquakes), they should contact their agent.
What does the colour scale mean?
The level of risk is shown in three colours: yellow, red and orange. Yellow indicates minimum risk, while red indicates maximum risk. To view the risk rating, an individual must have at least one insurance policy in place, which does not have to be property insurance.
Who provides the data?
Zavarovalnica Triglav draws information on the risk of certain property hazards from various sources, such as flood maps from the Slovenian Environment Agency, the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia and the Geological Survey of Slovenia. In addition, claim frequency and loss events are important factors for the risk rating and have been comprehensively monitored and analysed by the insurance company for several years. “After last year's storms and floods, we decided to make the rating, which we have calculated for all properties in Slovenia, available to our customers so that they can be more aware of the risks to their homes and adjust their insurance accordingly,” explains Matej Ferlan, Executive Director of the Non-Life Insurance Division at Zavarovalnica Triglav. It is important to stress that the rating does not represent the full certainty of the risk occurring, but is rather an informative indication to help the client to take out the appropriate insurance.
Take out insurance prudently
Natural and other disasters can also leave you homeless, which is why the insurance company stresses the importance of adequate property insurance. Awareness of this is still too low, as shown by the fact that a third of properties owned by private individuals are not insured against any risk.
One of the underestimated threats to Slovenia is earthquakes. You can hear experts talk about the possible consequences of an earthquake and how we can strengthen our earthquake resilience in a video podcast, which you can watch here.
“A home is priceless, and thus should be protected and insured. When taking out insurance, the key is to take the time to think about which risks your home is most exposed to, and to what extent. Based on this, choose the appropriate insurance. Pay attention to whether the policy covers the various hazards and in what amounts. Check whether the sums insured for individual hazards can be increased if you consider this necessary. You can discuss any questions you have with your insurance agent, and get comprehensive information on the choice of insurance. Knowing the risks gives you an advantage, as you can be better prepared for what you cannot prevent,” says Ferlan.
For more information on how customers can access the risk rating, please follow this link. For more useful content on how to protect yourself as much as possible against damage caused by weather and natural phenomena, visit the Everything Will Be Fine portal. Zavarovalnica Triglav advises people to monitor the weather forecasts and warnings from the competent services. The The Triglav Weather app can also be useful in this regard.
