Korean nonlife insurers' payouts to policyholders surged last summer from a year earlier following a series of typhoons that hit the country, industry data showed Wednesday.
The combined amount of payouts to policyholders reached 537.4 billion won ($496.5 million) over the August-September period, up 20-30 percent from the previous year, the data showed.
The increase came as three typhoons -- Bolaven, Tembin and Sanba -- struck the country over the cited period, submerging automobiles and farms across Korea.
Payouts for damage to automobiles accounted for 9.2 percent, while crops made up 52 percent of the total. Livestock took up 2.3 percent of the total losses, the data showed.
Market watchers said Korean nonlife insurers are expected to face losses for the 2012 fiscal year, as local firms already posted a net loss in the first quarter due to decreasing returns from asset management.
The country's top ten local nonlife insurers reported a combined operating loss of 103.2 billion won in insurance operations over the April-June period. The insurance firms close their books on March 31. (Yonhap)