Generali: nearly 40,000 lightning damage reports received in 2024 due to climate change

By: Trademagazin Date: 2025. 02. 13. 09:19

The effects of changeable weather, global warming and climate change are increasingly affecting our everyday lives, just think of the frequent extreme weather conditions. Fortunately, 2024 can be considered a more peaceful year in terms of storm damage than 2023: while the year before last, Generali Insurance received a record number of natural damage reports related to 58,000 apartments and condominiums, in 2024 this number was nearly 40,000, with the amount of damage approaching 5 billion forints. The number of damage reports related to storm damage was the highest last year in terms of damage (approximately 21,000), followed by damage reports related to lightning, ice and water flowing in from outside.

In 2024, after a relatively peaceful start to the year, hailstorms rocked the country in the last days of May, and the extreme weather continued into early June. During this period, a total of more than 12,000 claims were received by Generali Biztosító, which was exceptionally high considering the monthly average (2,500 claims in 2024). In addition to these two months, the insurer received more than average reports of storms and water damage in July and August 2024, and the number of claims was also much higher than the annual average in September – this month, floods caused serious problems across the country.

In terms of residential storm damage, the most damage reports came from Budapest last year, followed by Hajdú-Bihar County and Pest County – and at the city level, besides the capital, Debrecen, Pécs and Miskolc suffered the most damage in 2024, according to Generali data.

We can get our money even on the day of the damage assessment

Due to unpredictable weather conditions, appropriate, personalized insurance that provides comprehensive protection for our family has become extremely important – and this is especially important when trouble strikes.

“It is important to report the damage as soon as possible after the detection, preferably online, so that the processing of the damage can begin as soon as possible. It is also essential to document the damage caused by the storm with photos and videos. If damage has occurred, the damage can be settled in minutes with video claim settlement using a smartphone. In the case of property damage, the assessment can be completed in approximately 5-7 minutes, while in the case of vehicle damage in approximately 10-15 minutes, and if the damage can be settled based on the video call, the amount of the damage can also be transferred. With the immediately initiated, so-called real-time payment, the amount of the damage can be in the injured party’s account within a few minutes”

– emphasizes József Szikszai, Director of Claims Settlement at Generali Biztosító Zrt.