October 2017/1

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.

Catastrophe modelling firms have failed to reach a consensus on the impact of hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, as carriers attempt to count the cost of a fast-moving claims situation

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.

Markel Catco has said recent catastrophe events mean its 2017 annual return could fall anywhere between up 5 percent to down by as much as 15 percent.

Lloyd's has pushed back the approvals process for Barbican's special purpose arrangement (SPA) with Toa Re and Apollo's venture with Mark Rayner, The Insurance Insider understands.

Data provider Property Claim Services (PCS) has issued an initial estimate for Hurricane Irma insured losses in US territories of $18.03bn, The Insurance Insider has reported

Downstream energy losses this year were approaching $2.85bn even before the recent run of Atlantic hurricanes, according to the latest energy report from JLT Specialty.

Pool Re has rejigged its reinsurance offer for its members to help close a protection gap for political violence cover among small and medium-sized enterprises

Cyber has taken the prime spot as the most important emerging risk for underwriters, according to an International Underwriting Association (IUA) poll of its members

With the third quarter now in the books and (re)insurers obliged to quantify their losses for investors during reporting season, a number have started to pre-announce their expected share of the glut of cat losses.

Once again, there was little joy to be found in the headline numbers of Lloyd's first half results.

A QBE spokesperson confirmed that 2017 catastrophe losses are expected to exhaust its $900mn aggregate reinsurance programme, which is understood to be written by Berkshire Hathaway.

Alex Jomaa of CFC Underwriting has been voted the top cyber underwriter in the London market for the second year running, according to The Insurance Insider's 2017 cyber rankings survey

Let me take a wild guess - I bet you're glad it's not Q3 2017 anymore.

Concern is mounting in the market that Nagico, the dominant insurer in the Dutch Caribbean, will shoot through the top of its reinsurance programme after St Maarten was devastated by Hurricane Irma.

John Sutton and Toby Humphreys, who led Integro's UK operation for more than a decade until their exit in March this year, are planning to launch a new brokerage, The Insurance Insider understands.

For a long time the traffic has been going in the other direction. Independent brokers were selling up, accepting the inevitable march of consolidation.

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.