Oman: Insurers expect wave of claims after heavy rains
Source: Middle East Insurance Review | Oct 2015
The insurance industry is bracing itself for a wave of damage claims in the construction and vehicle segments, following heavy rain and flash floods that hit Muscat and several parts of the sultanate in early September.
However, insurers said that it is too early to tell what the cost of damages would be, and expect to get a clearer idea on their overall claims exposure by the end of second week of September, reported the Muscat Daily.
“We anticipate risks in road construction and infrastructure projects. There were many open construction sites where everything got washed away,” said Mr Rawny Khadr, General Manager at Dhofar Insurance. The claims volume is also expected to be high in the vehicles segment because the main highway in Muscat was affected and several vehicles were damaged by water.
“This time, it happened quite suddenly and there was no warning about heavy rain and floods. We are waiting to get feedback from our corporate and retail clients,” Mr Khadr added.
Flooding kills an average of 70 people every year in Oman, destroys over 600 homes and damages about 1,500 private businesses, not to mention destruction of civil infrastructure, according to a report in the Times of Oman. The total average damage wrecked by flooding annually since 2010 costs well above OMR1.2 billion (US$3.1 billion). About 70% of the costs are shouldered by the government. The remaining is covered equally by insurance pay-outs and private funds.
OMR1 = US$2.60