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Munich (dpa) - The icy temperatures across Germany are worrying insurance companies because of the feared accumulation of frost damage.
Frozen water pipes cause hundreds of millions of euros in damage every year, and by no means only in private houses.
According to a joint analysis by the Allianz subsidiary AGCS and several other insurers, water damage in a German company costs an average of 20,000 euros, as AGCS announced on Friday.
This year there are two additional factors: In the industries affected by the lockdown, many offices, hotels, restaurants and hairdressing salons are empty.
In addition, there has not been a comparable cold spell in Germany for years, the past winter 2019/20 was extremely mild.
"In fact, the last periods of frost in 2009/2010 and 2012 were a few years ago," says a spokeswoman for the German Insurance Association (GDV) in Berlin.
"It can happen that homeowners lose sight of this risk."
However, the GDV does not provide a prognosis as to whether the corona pandemic will lead to more frost damage in empty and unheated buildings.
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According to the association's figures, frost and cold cause around 30,000 to 40,000 water pipe damage on average in Germany each year, resulting in costs of between 120 and 150 million euros.
But not only apartment tenants and homeowners forget to turn off the water supply or protect it against frost before a cold spell.
Expensive repairs are also due in companies: "We keep seeing damage that occurs on public holidays or weekends when employees are not or only partially present as active hazard detectors," says Manfred Schneider, head of risk advice in the engineering and construction sector for medium and Eastern Europe.
AGCS specializes in large corporate customers and, with its partner insurance companies, has analyzed 5318 tap water damage in companies over the past ten years.
The most expensive repairs totaled almost four million euros.
In factories, hospitals, hotels, office buildings and other commercial buildings, more water pipes are installed than in private homes, because fire protection systems require extinguishing water systems.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210212-99-407655 / 2