Issues

Imagine that on your way home the urge suddenly takes you to gamble. You walk straight into a betting shop and place the biggest bet you can afford on a horse race.

Average comprehensive motor insurance premiums in the UK fell by 1.1 percent to £838 ($1,105) in Q3, as insurers adjusted their prices in anticipation of a change to the Ogden discount rate, according to the latest pricing survey from Willis Towers Watson.

For a start-up, getting the timing right is often a key driver of success.

Motor underwriters and their representatives are holding high-level talks with government officials and state agencies about vehicle-based terrorist attacks, as the prospect of unlimited industry liability threatens to force up reinsurance rates and tighten conditions at the 1 January renewals.

State Farm had the most to lose from Hurricane Nate when it blew ashore in Louisiana over the weekend, based on the company's market share in the Bayou State.

The impact of hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria (HIM) means the insurance-linked securities (ILS) sector is in line for one of its more complicated 1 January renewals, despite the fact the market's share of losses will be much more contained than it might have been.

Lloyd's posted a better combined ratio for the first half of 2017 than for the prior-year period, but this wasn't enough to prevent a drop in pre-tax profits.

A long-term decline in non-fatal workplace accidents and injuries combined with improving loss experience helped workers' compensation carriers to greater profitability last year as premiums climbed to a record $58.5bn

Uncertainty over the cost of hurricanes Irma and Maria has put the brakes on the recovery of the secondary cat bond market, which had initially rebounded.

(Re)insurance stocks climbed by 3.8 percent in the third quarter to hint at investor confidence in carrier balance sheets, despite an onslaught of natural catastrophes that threaten to wipe out the year's reinsurance premium intake.

Competition among InsurTech start-ups to join so-called accelerators is keen, with 10 of the market's most high-profile firms receiving more than 8,500 applications to join their programmes, according to a report from Celent and Guy Carpenter.

As insurers and their reinsurers continue the challenging task of assessing HIM exposures, there is anecdotal evidence that US property underwriters are beginning to demand rate increases at renewal.