As of the end of 2024, Belgian insurance companies paid €83.6 million in compensation to victims of the 2016 terror attacks which rocked Maelbeek metro station and Brussels International Airport, insurance sector federation Assuralia announced on Friday.
Of this total, €74.3 million was paid for physical and mental injuries. These funds were spent on covering medical expenses, hospitalisation, temporary or permanent disability support, and psychological trauma, among others. The rest of the funds, approximately €9 million, was spent on material damages.
In total, damages arising from the terror attacks, which claimed the lives of 32 people and injured 340, amounted to approximately €141 million.
Further expenses are expected in years to come, with another €57 million being earmarked for future medical care, life insurance payments, disability benefits, prostheses, and other payments to third parties, the Federation explained.
Among insurers, a solidarity package of compensation for victims physically and psychologically injured by terrorist acts was established in June 2024. This guarantees continued care for victims, “even in the absence of risks covered by an insurance contract and independently of the subscribed individual insurance policies,” Assuralia explained.
The sector federation expects that payments will continue over several decades, especially for those seriously injured.
