Winter Storms Impacting Insurers' Bottom Lines: Aon

More than $1 billion in insured losses have been tallied as a result of record-breaking winter weather in the U.S.

It was another slushy, icy week here in the New York metropolitan area — and there are indications that insurance companies are starting to feel the pain.

Aon subsidiary Impact Forecasting, which publishes catastrophe reports each month detailing the insured impact of each event, says that $1.4 billion in insured losses have been racked up in four separate events so far this year.

That's not surprising, given the most high-profile weather-related emergency of the year was when hundreds of (presumably) insured vehicles were strewn on Atlanta highways.

"The current winter season in the United States has already become the costliest year for the winter weather peril since 2011," says Steve Bowen, senior scientist and meteorologist for Impact Forecasting, in a statement. "The combination of physical damages and business interruption costs have quickly aggregated into direct economic losses well into the billions of dollars. The elevated losses this year are a reminder to insurers that the risks associated with the winter weather peril remain significant."

Nathan Golia is senior editor of Insurance & Technology. He joined the publication in 2010 as associate editor and covers all aspects of the nexus between insurance and information technology, including mobility, distribution, core systems, customer interaction, and risk ... View Full Bio