Property cat
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Insurers in the emirate typically buy low-attaching reinsurance.
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The recent Italian hail and Bernd losses show some companies are relying on outdated models.
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Tropical Storm Risk (TSR) has updated its forecast for North Atlantic hurricane activity, predicting a "hyper-active season" in 2024, with activity being around 70% above the 1991-2020 climate norm.
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The new CEO needs to fix the underwriting, but should also ask the bigger questions.
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The announcement confirms earlier reports from this publication.
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Joe Morrello joined the firm in 2022 after serving as E&S property head at Beazley.
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Oversupply of capacity will outweigh casualty and per-risk concerns.
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Last summer’s hail loss has crept significantly for many Italian cedants.
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Competition among insurers is rising as new carriers enter the market.
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The underwriter will report to Kristina Maffit.
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Syndicate 609 will focus on deploying capacity in D&F and specialty.
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Mutual Zenkyoren is expected to reduce its purchase this year.
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Exposures to property are growing materially in the riskier geographies.
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The Australian carrier has a full-year natural peril budget of A$1.09bn.
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The depth of the retro market recovery will be an influential factor in the pace of the cat market slowdown from here.
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The segment has bounced back from its mid-2022 nadir, but its current zenith is not that much to shout home about.
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The LatAm telecoms company buys a sizeable protection triggered by windspeeds.
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Insurance competition remains vibrant in some of the segments that remain most exposed to persistent risks highlighted by the flagship World Economic Forum report.
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The carrier also signed down some Lloyd’s players due to differential pricing.
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The flight of reinsurers to mid- and upper layers of programmes is influenced by recent experience but softening at this level can be seen as a risky move.
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The broker’s report also hailed the best risk-adjusted margins for ILS investors in a decade.
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Reinsurers are looking to grow in top-layer cat risk, resulting in “variable” outcomes on sign-downs.
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The primary insurance subsidiary buys around EUR700mn of property cat protection from the wider market.
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Property cat and casualty pricing remain steady following chaotic 2023 renewal, with global cat rates rising 3%.
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Some reinsurers could be heading into 2024 with spare capacity, the reinsurance leader said.
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The broker said over-placement on some deals was a positive sign for brokers, though reinsurance capacity is still very tight in some areas.
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Travelers is set to expand its core cat treaty by between $1bn and $1.5bn, in a further sign of increased demand for cat reinsurance coverage at 1 January, this publication can reveal.
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We look at data trends that shed light on the past year, ranging from growth plans at Lloyd’s to personnel planning, uncertain IPO prospects and the unexpected trends from Florida losses.
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Next year will see North Atlantic hurricane activity about 30% above the 1991-2020 30-year norm, according to Tropical Storm Risk.
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Anticipations of a tug-of-war around a ‘flat to slightly up’ pricing renewal have indeed come to fruition.
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The programme was hit hard by February’s Kahramanmaraş earthquake.
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The P&C Re CEO discussed Swiss Re’s P&C appetite and nat cat exposure in the investor presentation.
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The ratings agency said premium rate increases for specialty lines would be most pronounced in political risk, terrorism and political violence lines because of heightened geopolitical tensions.
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The pool was launched in July 2022 and is backed by a A$10bn government guarantee.
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He joins from Allianz commercial where he currently holds the role of senior property underwriter.
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The mood at the association’s annual meeting is vastly more congenial this year, but challenges remain, particularly around long-tail lines.
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Barrett was previously senior vice president, P&C specialties at Lockton.
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Up-to-date building codes could reduce the amount insurers pay in the Caribbean by 18%, according to the risk modeller.
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With US third-quarter reporting season being well underway, the results so far highlight further runway for the hard property E&S market.
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Videos and messages posted to social media show widespread devastation caused by the Category 5 hurricane.
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Flights had been suspended into Acapulco after the storm rapidly intensified and made landfall at Category 5 strength.
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Executives said geopolitical uncertainty, economic stagnation, cyber, cat events and inflation will drive demand on the Continent.
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The carrier continued to experience a significant level of catastrophe losses this year, which resulted in lower year-to-date earnings than expected, according to CFO Frey.
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The reinsurer said hardening of property reinsurance conditions must continue.
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During the first nine months of 2023, a total of 24 separate billion-dollar weather and climate disasters have been confirmed by the NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information.
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Loss severity and prior-year development in US casualty dominated discussion at The Broadmoor.
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Chris Prior of Inigo Insurance will also be joining Wood at the carrier, marking a re-entry into property D&F for Syndicate 1200.
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Lloyd's chief of markets Patrick Tiernan said the Corporation is comfortable that a cyber risk pre-mortem exercise showed the market could cope with a major cyber incident.
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The capacity supported the cat book and represents upwards of two-thirds of the total book.
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The psychological wounds of the past were serious, and the sector’s redemption arc with capital will take time to play out.
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Insurance Insider has compiled a bite-sized wrap-up of the exclusive news stories and CEO interviews from this year's Monte Carlo Rendez-Vous.
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The paradox of “the best reinsurance market in years” is that there are still question marks over who wants a piece of it.
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Sources have said the layer will provide the carrier with protection for the Northeast US only and attaches at a remote level.
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The French reinsurer said continued price increases, particularly on cat and US casualty, remain necessary.
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Some 15 months on from the property reinsurance exit, he said the firm continued to reserve the right to reshape the portfolio.
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Despite a successful upstreaming of cat risk to primary insurers, reinsurers still have multiple factors to worry about in the run-up to 1 January 2024.
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The pressure on catastrophe terms and conditions seen at the January 2023 renewals will likely not be repeated as renewals get more orderly in 2024.
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In May, S&P Global Ratings estimated that its proposed new criteria for its insurer ratings methodology will lead to rating actions on up to 10% of rated carriers, but Litmus Analysis has stated that it expects that this estimate is not intended to represent the upper limit of possible rating changes.
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Karen Clark & Company said the majority of insured losses will incur from US wind and storm surge damage, apart from just under $5mn which was attributed to winds across the Caribbean.
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Super Typhoon Saola has the potential to be one of the five largest typhoons to land in Guangdong in over 70 years, according to reports.
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Hurricane Idalia is still live, but the storm’s track reassured market participants that it will be a relatively minor loss, although one potential wild card is the damage it will cause to Georgia and South Carolina.
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The update projections for wind only show a 20% likelihood of losses approaching $11.7bn.
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If the storm steers clear of Tampa, reinsurers will be well placed for minimal losses, but a retention loss is a further blow for weak Floridians.
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The storm is now forecast to become a major hurricane by Tuesday night. This morning’s advisory update had estimated that Idalia would reach major hurricane status by early Wednesday.
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A major hurricane in any section of Florida that extends into the Southeast states is likely a “multi-billion-dollar” insurance industry event, according to the broker.
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The estimate includes privately insured damage to residential, commercial and industrial property, as well as automobiles. Boats, offshore properties and NFIP losses were excluded.
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Idalia is forecast to become a hurricane later today and a dangerous major hurricane over the northeastern Gulf of Mexico by early Wednesday.
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The estimate is based on the impact to approximately 200 structures where RLI provided primarily homeowners’ insurance.
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However minor an irritant these losses are for global carriers, their impact is likely to have an outsized influence on the narrative heading into the 1 January renewals.
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Earlier this afternoon, San Diego County issued a tropical storm warning related to Hilary – the first in its history.
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The development in reconstruction costs and contingent BI claims may put the ultimate sum beyond current estimates.
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The carrier was originally in the market for extra capacity at January 1 before pulling plans.
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Most forecasters now predict above-average storm activity for the Atlantic as a result of record-high sea-surface temperatures.
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Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from the island, and nearly 14,000 Maui residents remain without power.
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The hammering of hailstorm losses that US homeowners’ carriers reported for H1 will drive positive change in property markets.
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The CEO also addressed the carrier’s MGA strategy and the impact of the abandoned take-private attempt.
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The carrier said a greater number than usual of North Atlantic storms are possible despite El Niño conditions.
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The CEO said Chubb has ‘never seen better pricing’ on primary property.
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The reinsurer said it was monitoring conditions in the property E&S markets, where it has been reducing capacity to grow in property treaty, as rate gains could provide fertile ground for future growth.
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The first quarter of 2023 has already gone down as the costliest on record for the peril in the US.
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Insurance Insider has gathered data on geographical areas prone to cat events, which are outside of southeastern US states, that keep weather experts awake at night.
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With SRCC losses on the rise in recent years, the French riots have thrown a light once more on the dislocation within the political violence market.
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The utility previously bought a $1bn policy from the (re)insurance market.
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The Dutch carrier will remain active in life risks and reinsuring its parent Achmea.
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The Australian carrier has also renewed a five-year whole-account quota share with Hannover Re.
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Loss-free accounts were generally up 20%-50% at renewal, the reinsurance broker said.
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The Australia and New Zealand carrier faced additional costs of A$250mn to renew its programme for the new fiscal year.
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The broker’s latest report finds stability but continued price discipline in most lines and regions.
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The carrier is increasing underlying rates to counter increased reinsurance costs and inflation.
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The executive first joined Vantage in 2021 after stints at Hamilton and Allied World.
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The collapse of the Net-Zero Insurance Alliance means insurers must find new neutral ground to continue ESG engagement, CEOs at the Geneva Association's General Assembly said.
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Plus the latest executive moves and all the top news of the week.
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Some cedants paid more than 40% increases depending on Florida concentration and Hurricane Ian losses.
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Most forecasters predict below-average activity in the region – but opposing weather phenomena mean uncertainty is higher than usual.
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The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has forecast “near normal" hurricane activity in the Atlantic this year.
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The New Zealand carrier has topped up its cat programme to maintain a NZ$889mn limit.
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Early private deals have provided far more stability in this year’s renewal than last.
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Most carriers were keen to talk about how they are taking on the ongoing hard market in Q1, but some complexities partly offset their good news.
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Reinsurers are starting to see increased demand from personal lines, where valuations are being updated to match inflation.
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Blenheim’s withdrawal from property treaty highlights questions around London’s role as a reinsurance centre of excellence.
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Softening cat bond rates are among the bearish signals for cat rates, but latent new demand and still-cautious supply should prolong reinsurer gains.
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The syndicate wrote £386.2mn in gross written premium overall, of which £116mn was property treaty in 2022.
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The global P&C CEO said the carrier will deploy roughly the same capacity in the state as last year.
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The pace of rate hikes will ease back from the 1 January reset as buyers seek to lock up capacity early after last year’s dislocated renewal.
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The ratings agency repeated its expectation that 10% of ratings in the (re)insurance sector will be affected by its new criteria.
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Mark Cloutier set out Aspen’s plans for top-line 2023 growth in the range of 10%, and a continued strategy of pursuing rate rather than exposure growth in property cat.
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The forecast included two intense hurricanes, six hurricanes and 12 tropical storms.
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Aon said it was “optimistic” that the market is now on a more stable footing following a turbulent 1.1.
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Reinsurers achieved an average ROE for 2022 of 5.2% – far below the cost of capital – in what Aon described as a “poor year for reinsurance sector earnings”.
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The broker’s international chairman said that without an influx of new capacity, the market will remain disciplined.
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S&P plans to publish a capital model prototype with its revised proposals for ratings methodologies, in its latest move to seek market feedback.
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Sources pointed to increased pressure to lift minimum rates on line above 2.5% on upper layers of wind programmes.
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S&P published its first consultation on proposed changes to its risk-based capital adequacy methodology in December 2021.
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Large visiting contingents from Florida to the Bermuda Risk Summit highlighted ongoing concerns around cat capacity availability.
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The MGA’s international platform hopes to bring in MGA underwriters looking for US expansion.
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The executive didn’t provide a target for the number of investments it expects to keep, but said SiriusPoint will not be an active acquirer in the near term.
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Global P&C insurers must reassert their relevance by reducing cat-related protection gaps rather than retreat from nat cat risk, McKinsey said.
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The carrier has exceeded its H1 natural hazard allowance of A$580mn.
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Slowing primary pricing, the looming threat of inflation and increased cat retentions were key themes from this reporting round.
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Annual reviews of natural disaster activity highlighted drought – which can also heighten risk of fire and flood losses – as an increasingly important secondary peril.
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Exclusions and coverage changes absolutely make sense as a goal, but some wordings have thrown up additional risks.
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The non-profit initiative will broaden to include cyber and casualty after successful tests on property reinsurance placements.
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The association has also set its one-in-100 PML at $4.45bn for the year.
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The Ontario and Quebec derecho was the most severe weather event for Canada in 2022, causing C$1bn worth of losses.
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Private flood insurance accounted for about 40% of total flood insurance premium in California, higher than Florida’s 15%.
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The ending of an exclusivity arrangement also allows Berkshire Hathaway to offer reinsurance to Australian rivals.
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The intermediary recorded “one of the hardest reinsurance markets in living memory” as primary rate increases slowed.
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Cedants are grappling with rising rates while coverage narrows.
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Cedants who came to market in Q4 settled for smaller tranche sizes in recognition of limited capacity.
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Plus this week’s executive moves and all the latest exclusives of the week.
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The outcome over the debate on narrowing cat reinsurance coverage will not be an all-or-nothing bet, with all perils deals with exclusions not a polar opposite of named perils coverage.
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The move comes amid a general cutback from reinsurers’ in their cat risk appetite.
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The carrier has become the latest in a string of reinsurers unwilling to write retro at 1 January.
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The forecast included three intense hurricanes, six hurricanes and 13 tropical storms.
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The California Earthquake Authority expects difficulty sourcing capacity well into 2023.
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Analysts said attachment points are now far behind the rate of inflation over the period.
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The German carrier will increase the attachment point on its US coverage by 50% to $300mn.
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The reissue of terms comes amid a tough European property cat market.
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The risk is increasing of some cedants ‘running naked’ in early January as the market faces a ‘horrendous bottleneck’ of negotiation ahead.
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The reinsurer said the appointment comes as it looks to grow in the property treaty arena.
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The Corporation’s CEO said the market could be 50% bigger in treaty reinsurance business.
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Announcements and interviews at the UN conference have shed light on the tools emerging to help carriers decarbonise their underwriting portfolios.
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It is understood that Ascot will continue to write worldwide retro business.
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Outrigger Re will write a quota share of Ark’s Bermuda property treaty book.
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The modeller also said that losses to the National Flood Insurance Program will likely remain under $300mn.
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The geo-political groups have launched the Global Shield against Climate Risks, a scheme that will deploy financial support for vulnerable countries during cat events including via insurance provisions.
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The transaction will add Latin American hurricane and earthquake modelling capabilities to Aon’s product suite.
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Marsh McLennan is mobilising the insurance industry to support the UN’s Race to Resilience initiative, starting by featuring 17 climate adaptation projects.
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The carrier pushed London brokers for a reduction in the traditional 15% commission.
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The impact of Ian losses on SiriusPoint’s total equity was ~3.5%, lower than RenRe and Everest, and in line with Axis.
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PE funds considering a play in the catastrophe space are far more likely to be looking for an alpha play.
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The Gulf Coast state is keen to distance itself from Florida’s insurance woes but is resistant to some underlying changes.
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Inflation, heightened cat activity and years of poor reinsurance returns are fuelling demands for wholesale change in the European market.
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The two Lloyd’s players are the first to bring sidecars to market as they seek to capitalise on surging projected returns.
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Cedants may find past behaviour coming back to haunt them, while brokers should be preparing in depth to achieve simplicity.
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The reinsurer is pushing for higher retentions on property cat and lower ceding commissions on proportional casualty.
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So far, the company has received nearly 12,000 claims associated with the storm.
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The reinsurer said it will look to double rates and retentions and halve the amount of override on casualty quota shares.
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The company estimates its overall gross loss to be approximately $1bn, below its $3bn overall reinsurance tower.
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As reinsurers have walked away from certain risks in Florida, the state will need to keep some parts of its insurance infrastructure healthy – but without making the public markets too attractive.
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The broker is looking to solve the severe capacity crunch for its clients as rising demand meets falling supply.
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Other firms such as Lexington, QBE and Zurich ranked among the top 20 underwriters in the six counties with highest exposure to Ian.
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RMS pushed the guidance for the Carolinas component of the Ian loss $120mn higher at the mean level up to $1.94bn, as it updated figures on Saturday in private figures to clients.
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Plus a changing of the guard at Marsh McLennan and all the top news of the week.
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The storm, currently 285 miles south of Charleston, is expected to make landfall as a hurricane on Friday.
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As it became clearer that the Fort Myers area was facing 150 mph winds, sources started to talk about loss estimates with a $30bn floor.
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The storm has sped up considerably over the past six hours.
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Research by sister title Inside P&C shows the top three homeowners carrier exposures by county for forecast highest impact areas.
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The dangerous storm is now projected to make landfall between Sarasota and Port Charlotte, Florida.
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New flexibility will enable top-performing syndicates to raise cat exposures under the Lloyd’s LCM 5 framework, without a penal increase in the required capital.
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Chief of markets Patrick Tiernan said the Corporation will also launch a disaster scenario exercise with the market, looking at China, Taiwan and the US.
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The storm is not expected to be a threat to the order of Jebi or Hagibis.
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This publication’s review of H1 disclosures shows how listed (re)insurers’ nat cat losses have tallied with aggregate projections.
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The storm was downgraded from super typhoon status ahead of landfall but was still the equivalent of a significant hurricane.
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Plus all the top news from the Monte Carlo Rendez-Vous and this week’s exclusive executive moves.
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Insurance Insider selects 10 exclusive news stories reported by our team on the frontline at Monte Carlo Rendez-Vous.
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How much capacity is available to meet rising cat reinsurance demands was a key theme throughout this year’s Rendez-Vous.
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The carrier will focus on writing a limited number of mid-sized EMEA clients in its first year.
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Reinsurers are pushing for premium adjustments to minimise inflation risk and walking away from multi-year deals.
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Aon’s reinsurance solutions CEO, Andy Marcell, said the loss ratios of treaties managed by the brokerage firm performed “pretty well” in the past 10 years.
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Insurance Insider explores the themes around growth in London and a contraction of cat limits on the horizon, in the months before an intensive 1.1 period.
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The ratings agency warns latent exposure to property risk could cause capital deterioration.
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Underwriters in both London and Singapore are in discussions with the company.
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Insured nat cat losses amounted to $35bn globally in H1, while manmade events triggered an additional $3bn, according to Swiss Re Insititute.
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The McKinney and Oak fires are 0% and 67% contained, respectively.
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Initial loss estimates from convective storms and flash flooding place the economic impact in the hundreds of millions, although Aon warned losses may rise further.
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The carrier’s management emphasised further underwriting actions.
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Joe Petrelli said Demotech would continue to follow its independent methodology, despite outside pressure.
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A further 3,271 structures, including both homes and businesses, are under threat from the wildfire.
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The first six months of the year also saw more billion-dollar loss events than average.
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Market orthodoxy suggests cross-class reinsurers secure more leverage – but are there too many implicit offsets in this game?
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Inflationary pressure, increased demand and negotiations over attachment points are among the factors that reinsurers believe are ramping up pressure in the catastrophe space.
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Carriers have received more than 8,000 flood claims since 1 July.
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Mitsui, Tokio and Sompo are to split the loss, which will be absorbed by retentions and property XoL treaties.
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The March earthquake that struck Fukushima in Japan will cost $2.3bn.
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Sources described Australia as ‘the new Florida’ while US rates are also on the rise.
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CEO Kathleen Reardon said recent legislative changes are a ‘band aid’ but will help to calm the stressed Florida market.
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The carrier’s move to cement its identity as a specialty (re)insurer could put it at a competitive disadvantage.
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The forecast range of hurricanes is slightly wider than in 2021, but in line with 2020.
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The commercial insurance CEO said that the industry should act now before the cat market reached a point of implosion.
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The proposal is at the upper end of previous proposals put to the insurer’s board.
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An FCA letter to the government suggests various ways to resolve issues around soaring pricing on medium- and high-rise properties with multiple occupancy.
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The carrier has extended the limit to $1.275bn for the year to 31 March 2023.
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The ratings agency said a high degree of uncertainty around ultimate exposure is likely to be long-lasting and will fuel rate strengthening in affected lines.
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European storms have inflicted heavy claims on insurers in recent years.
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The state Governor’s goal is ‘to have a functioning market’ for property insurance in Florida.
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The nat cat loss aggregator said the Q1 event was the “largest flood loss on record” for the Australian insurance industry.
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The carriers have placed a legally binding cat excess-of-loss reinsurance contract using B3i’s platform.
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The study says a more La Niña-like environment has driven the trend.
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Of that roughly $400mn to $820mn can be attributed to commercial and industrial properties, according to Verisk.
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Lloyd’s 2021 results have revealed significant improvements in virtually all lines of business as well as rocketing premium growth in reinsurance and primary casualty business.
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Wind XoL rate increases are tapering off, while cedants push for commission increases on quake quota-shares.
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The flight from volatility could have the industry poised to enter another phase of structural change.
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The intermediary’s London Market Appetite Survey also found increased enthusiasm for sustainable energy risks.
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The theme of yesterday’s market briefing is that Lloyd’s is now moving into a period of growth, having completed remediation, but it wants smarter, sustainable growth.
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The insurance trade body has called on governments to increase actions to mitigate risks.
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The carrier also trimmed its retro programme in “challenging” buying conditions.
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The rise accounts for growth in the firm’s specialty auto book.
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Secretary of state Michael Gove claimed the market is “failing some leaseholders”.
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Kevin O’Donnell also said 1.5-point rises in ceding commissions for long-tail line treaties were an “acceptable” increase in acquisition costs, given improved underlying profitability.
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The ratings agency is allowing more time for feedback on proposed changes to assessing insurers’ capital adequacy levels.
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Steve Lawrence and Andrew Whittaker join from European Property Underwriting and will start with immediate effect.
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Fire season in the US ran slightly later than usual in 2021, but total losses will fall far short of 2017-18 peaks.
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The catastrophe market, inflation and loss-costs and the pandemic unwind are among the trends to shape the news agenda this year.
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Inflationary pressure and climate change meant the market effectively gave ground to cedants despite nominal price rises.
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The fires are being fanned by winds of up to 115mph around the towns of Superior and Louisville.
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The country’s insurance industry is also contributing to a flood relief fund.
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Extreme flooding combined with hailstorms led to Germany’s worst loss year since records began in 1970.
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Arwen knocked out power for around a million UK homes.
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The ratings agency has proposed a significant change to how it assess insurers’ risk-based capital adequacy.
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Both gross and net exposures increased in the pandemic year, but net PMLs rose faster, a modelling report from the BMA shows.
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Jefferies’ report shows that cat losses have been spread across a broader range of perils and regions this year.
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The flooding had ‘catastrophic’ impacts on the province including damage to homes and agriculture.
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The reinsurance broker’s report comes after KCC put a $3bn insured loss estimate on the 10 December disaster.
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Hurricane Ida was the main loss-making event, but once again secondary perils generated more than half of global losses, according to the latest Sigma report.
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The BMS meteorologist said early data indicated “truly historic outbreak”, and that similar events typically cost the industry in the low-single digit billions of dollars.
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The Redicova product is led by Beazley with initial reinsurance from Axa XL, Hiscox and RenaissanceRe – all members of the Disaster Risk Facility at Lloyd’s
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Swiss Re, Munich Re, Hannover Re and Scor have set out divergent strategies on cat as volatility increases and the retro market seizes up.
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Climate change is likely to have already driven up insured losses from hurricanes by 11%, and could raise annual windstorm losses by an additional 10%-19%, according to the latest white paper from Karen Clark & Co (KCC).
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The carrier revised its cat bill following Ida and PG&E losses.
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The start-up reinsurer wrote $291.2mn in gross premium during the nine-month period.
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The storm has so far left more than 130,000 households and businesses without power, following the collapse of trees and utility lines.
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The carrier’s catastrophe losses rose to $501mn from $397mn in Q3 last year
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The decision marks a further withdrawal of delegated authority capacity, particularly for US property, from London carriers.
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The cat modeller’s estimate follows a $950mn projection from Karen Clark and Company.
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Hot and dry weather conditions increase the challenges as Dixie and Caldor near full containment.
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The founder said that taking a perpetual ownership approach rather than having an eye on exits would create better underwriting returns.
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The storm has dumped more than nine inches of rain on the city of Houston and risks further damage to Ida-hit properties.
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The modelling firm’s wind and surge losses remain at $17bn-$25bn.
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Recently one of my colleagues argued that it was time for a “bonfire of PMLs”, as the past five years have shown that the industry has seriously underpriced the kind of $10bn-$20bn loss events that have been happening since Harvey, Irma and Maria landed in 2017.
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“We can't lose sight of the fact that we are in the business of actually mitigating risk,” the executive said in an interview with Inside P&C.
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Plus all the highlights from the Reconnect conference and the week’s top news.
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Ongoing high claims from risks such as winter storm, wildfire or convective storm are playing into the climate-change debate over whether and to what extent cat reinsurers are mispricing their business.
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The updated loss estimates come on top of the $14bn to $19bn industry loss range the analytics firm provided last week.
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The quake caused building damage and downed power lines, leaving at least one person dead.
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The reinsurer warns that climate risks could increase average weather-related property cat losses in advanced markets by more than 60%.
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Plus the latest senior executive moves and all the top news from the week.
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The modeller excluded precipitation-induced flood losses from its estimate, which comes in above the $18bn from KCC.
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The majority of those canvassed by Insurance Insider said their gut feel was Ida would represent “another Hurricane Laura but slightly worse”.
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Casinos and ski resorts have shut down, and hotels are housing firefighters in usually buzzing holiday destinations near South Lake Tahoe, California.
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The Caldor Fire, which is 18% contained, has been active for 17 days and in that time destroyed 675 structures and damaged 40.
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The estimate includes damage to residential, commercial and industrial property and vehicles.
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The storm could bring losses of $20bn-$25bn in losses across property cat, D&F, binders and energy.
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Reinsurers, commercial and specialty carriers stocks edge down after Hurricane Ida, in line with dip in S&P Insurance Index.
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Experts fear for survivors, who now face an intense heatwave and up to a month without electricity.
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Plus a look at reinsurers’ cat budgets and all the top news from the week.
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Most of the damage occurred in Mexico as the country weathered an estimated $300mn of losses.
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The risk modeller said Henri’s weakening before landfall spared the northeast US from the damage originally forecast.
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The modeller said 70% of losses will come from Germany and a quarter from Belgium.
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The earthquake that hit the island’s southwest peninsula on 14 August is estimated to have caused $1.7bn of total losses, according to the firm’s Caribbean earthquake reference model.
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Overall figure was driven by a deep winter freeze, hailstorms and wildfires and marked the second highest first-half figure behind 2011.
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Tropical Storm Fred could also hit Florida on Friday, but it is too early to predict the exact, time and magnitude of its impact.
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So far, damage costs caused by the California fire are thought to be below $1bn.
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The fire is the second largest in California’s history behind the August Complex Fire last year.
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More than 100 fires have burned through provinces across Turkey, killing eight people as temperatures reach record highs.
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Reinsurers using Europe primarily as a diversifier to counter risk in peak cat zones are increasingly faced with significant loss events on the continent.
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The modeller said repairs to infrastructure could run into months.
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It marked a major increase on yesterday’s estimate of 43,400 from the satellite operator.
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The German insurance association called the low-pressure system Bernd ‘one of the most devastating in recent history’.
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There are 7,500 properties impacted by a high depth of water according to the satellite operator and flood monitor for the insurance industry.
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Experts have pegged the economic losses in the billions of euros, according to reports.
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The deaths were reported in the town of Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, south of Bonn and west of the Rhine river.
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The storm was the earliest named E storm, forming nearly six weeks earlier than average.
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It was upgraded to a category one hurricane by the National Hurricane Centre last night before being downgraded in a public advisory at 2am (EDT).
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Elsa has strengthened to a Category 1 hurricane ahead of landfall on west coast of Florida, become the first hurricane to make landfall so far this year.
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The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (Eiopa) gave the projection in its June financial stability report.
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Austria and the Czech Republic are likely to record their most costly convective storms on record.
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The flooding that took place in mid-March across Australia’s east coast states was labelled the worst in 60 years.
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While more storms than usual are expected for this season, Guy Carpenter said fewer are expected to strike land.
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Tractable has raised $60mn in its Series D funding round, fuelling a global expansion – including into markets where it will help carriers assess property damage.
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The revelation came with the release of the institute's 2021 Resilience Index.
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Outside the US, two Indian cyclones are expected to have caused more than $4.5bn of economic losses.
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The broker predicts a “very active” cyclone season over east Asia but forecasts a slightly smaller number than usual will make landfall.
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The intermediary also warned that inflation headwinds could affect the future cost of claims.
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Severe and winter weather losses in the US hit $21.4bn during January-April, equity research analysts estimate.
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The region braces for a potential Category 1 landfall.
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This came as the insurer said its reinsurance programme was oversubscribed and it expected rate increases to be in a mid single digit range.
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The February Deep Freeze has already pushed cedants to access reinsurance, adding fuel for rate rises later this year.
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The association said that regulation and culture needed continued improvement and the focus should go beyond high-rise residential buildings.
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An increased frequency and severity of fires weigh on per-risk covers.
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Covid-19 losses materially impact the property market, but the marine, aviation and transport segment returns to profit.
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The industry association reports that about 29,213 claims have been received so far.
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Firm order terms reveal an expectation from cedants of price increases between 5% and 10% on flood covers, in line with pricing momentum from 1.1.
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Rate rises on wind covers are broadly in the 5%-10% range, running somewhat ahead of quake increases.
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Aon has said it expects the economic cost of physical damage and business interruption caused by the polar vortex-linked cold snap to “well exceed $10bn”, in an Impact Forecasting report released on Thursday.
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Nat cat and extreme weather claims have become more frequent and severe with hail, heavy rain and wildfires leading to significant losses.
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Regional per occurrence deals were also down compared to last year, but Validus lifted its retro cover by $75mn.
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The move is part of a wider expansion in BMS’s reinsurance broking capabilities.
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Retro rates are at an eight-year high, according to the broker.
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Key themes included new capacity, a more buoyant retro market than expected, drawn-out amendments to exclusionary wordings, and quota share demand.
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The new recruit will run SI’s UK and international property team.
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The former Pioneer underwriting chief will lead the programs team within Brit Global Specialty USA from Georgia.
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Purchasing the analytics firm will help Willis meet growing demand for climate change services.
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The storm struck a state park area around 135 miles north of Tampa.
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The storm battered Central America as a hurricane last week, causing widespread damage and at least 57 deaths.
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Repeated pelting from smaller cat losses presents a host of challenges for carriers.
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The rating actions follow "diminished results" since 2016, the agency said.
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The move will allow Markel to leverage Nephila's position and generate operational efficiencies, co-CEO Richie Whitt said.
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Aon’s former head of international catastrophe management will take up the position next September.
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The carrier had topped up its cover earlier this month after Laura triggered recoveries.
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Delegated authority brokers are braced for the 1 January property binders renewal.
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Typhoon Haishen is following in the wake of the storm, and is currently forecast to approach South Korea at Cat 4 strength
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Chris Schaper is to step in as CEO of the unit, as Jeff Clements and Chris Silvester depart.
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The London D&F market is expecting minimal exposure, but there is also potential for political violence and trade credit losses, sources said.
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Motor accounts for 47% of the industry’s total bill, while property claims rise sharply from earlier estimates.
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The broker also confirms the appointment of James Goodwin as head of power and mining.
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The ratings agency predicts traditional insurance products will be the preferred focus of most start-ups, with some skewing to technology.
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The Chikugo River on the island of Kyushu is one of many to have broken its banks.
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The cover, which is stable from 2019, was brokered by Aon.
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The acquisition expands Lighthouse’s footprint into Florida and creates a firm with $200mn in premiums written.
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The total premium outlay for the programme rose by 10% to $272mn.
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The carrier only bought $620mn of new private reinsurance limit as it didn’t want to lock in multi-year cover at current rates.
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Cristobal could impact the Gulf Coast as a tropical storm late on Sunday.
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Strikes, riots and civil commotion wordings in US property policies leave both the US and London markets open to potentially significant losses.
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The Florida-based insurer’s spend rose by 17 percent to $262mn.
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The carrier retained more risk in the first layer of its programme.
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The ratings agency is reviewing the impact of Floridian insurers’ reinsurance buying at 1 June.
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The companies will target facultative and treaty reinsurance in lines including property cat and construction.
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At last reinsurance pricing seems to be succumbing to hardening forces within the US market.
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Citizens plans to source $1.4bn of reinsurance limit for its coastal account, up from $1.27bn last year, as more of its multi-year cover elapses.
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The Floridian said reinsurers face "real credit risk" on some of the poorer performing carriers in the state.
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Property reinsurers seem to be preparing to draw the battle lines on Covid-19 claims around T&Cs.
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As the Covid-19 crisis continues to deepen, this week signs of strain became increasingly evident in certain lines of business.
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The new bind feature enables markets to complete and bind Aon's treaty reinsurance placements without face-to-face meetings.
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The initial estimate represents the third largest industry loss for an east coast low pressure event.
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Steve Bitar worked at Citizen for more than 16 years and joins the Floridian property insurer on 20 April.
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The majority of losses are thought to stem from the UK, Germany and Belgium.
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Covid-19 is not likely to make financial pressures for Florida insurers worse, he told Insurance Insider.
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The deal was one of a number of Florida insurer combinations proposed earlier in 2020.
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The carrier failed to secure sufficient investor interest for the transaction.
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Despite major increases reinsurers seem underwhelmed by the scale of the re-rating.
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The deal will allow Lighthouse to write business in Florida through Prepared Managers LLC.
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The loss aggregator lifts the tally by EUR10mn from its previous prediction.
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APRA chairman Wayne Byres tells lawmakers carriers remain sufficiently capitalised to respond to new events.
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Underwriting income for the industry climbed $4.9bn from the previous year, driven by growth in net premiums earned, according to AM Best.
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The law would make it harder for attorneys to use contingency risk multiplier fees.
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The CEO said the company was only prepared to deploy capital if increases were sufficient.
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Bruce Lucas said the decline was “pretty material”.
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The Florida carrier makes no reserve strengthening in the final quarter after responding to Irma loss creep in the July to September period.
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The carrier said the charge mainly stems from non-core business, including $5.5mn from commercial general liability.
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Most claims emanate from Germany, France and the UK.
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Reinsurers have been keen to paint a picture of gains on the horizon in their analyst calls after their January renewals reports.
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Bushfires losses still dwarf claims from the other five major events to afflict Australia since October.
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Chaucer leads the standalone cover, bought after the Chilean retailer’s property policy excluded the risk.
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Property, aviation and marine cargo were among the fastest risers.
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The carrier said rates were not responding adequately to claims and loss creep.
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Current rules allow lawyers in some insurance cases to collect up to 30 times what an insured is awarded for a claim.
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Claims made from the 2017 hurricane in December impact its 2017 portfolio.
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Disruption in P&C markets is expected to boost demand for captive services.
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Our (re)insurance benchmark largely shrugs off wider equity-market losses driven by coronavirus fears.
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The casualty conundrum dominates fourth-quarter commentary, while AIG CEO Brian Duperreault challenges fossil fuel orthodoxy.
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In the Florida market there is clearly a close relationship, albeit a financial disjuncture, between the thinly capitalised private players and the reinsurers that assume their cat risk. As such it will nigh on impossible for watchdogs to achieve fundamental change without considering the whole system.
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Demotech’s actions expected to have only a minimal net impact on reinsurance demand.
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The action comes amid a period of heightened focus on Florida carriers after Demotech signalled a tough line.
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This publication looks at the 10 most prevalent industry trends for the year ahead.
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The gainers fail to offset share-price declines among Floridian and London contingents.
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A state regulator has determined that efforts to rehabilitate the auto insurer would be "useless".
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Unmodelled cat losses are prompting a reassessment of pricing, the broker said.
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The executive is the youngest brother of CEO J. Powell Brown.
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Broker says alternative capital retracted by 7% as investors exercise caution.
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Broker’s 1.1 report notes uptick in rates for property cat and non-marine retro.
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NSW has declared a state of emergency, with conditions expected to deteriorate.
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The broker highlights increasingly discerning reinsurers pushing for rate.
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Thousands are trapped on beaches in Victoria and New South Wales.
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Rate growth fails to meet early expectations but the market is clearly tightening in aggregate.
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The trade association’s claims tally for Faxai reaches $3.05bn.
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Pressure grows on firefighters after a brief cool period over Christmas.
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The car insurer, which has held quota share partnerships with Greenlight Re, entered receivership earlier this month.
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This week a clearer sense began to emerge of the likely shape of the 1.1 renewals.
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Over 20 houses have been destroyed as around 120 bush and grass fires burn across New South Wales.
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There was a lot to unpack in Swiss Re’s investor day update, which focused on its plans to continue recapturing market share in the natural catastrophe business.
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The country's ministry of finance has agreed a deal with 56 insurers to insure public buildings against natural disasters.
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As claims from Dorian and Faxai dent Q3 results, this publication assesses the impact on the market so far.
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The AIG subsidiary achieved rate rises of 30 percent across commercial D&O while also reducing its portfolio loss exposure.
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The two Florida-based insurers have continued to suffer increased losses from prior year events such as Hurricanes Irma and Michael.
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Property fac-focussed Brickell Underwriting Agency will open in early November and begin writing risks from 31 December.
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The committee will be comprised of underwriters who write professional indemnity for construction, and have a particular focus on cladding and fire protection.
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The losses relate largely to Hurricane Dorian and tropical storms Barry and Imelda.
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All policies underwritten by the carrier will be cancelled from the beginning of November.
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The Californian utilities firm has established a $14bn backstop fund to ensure all liabilities are paid.
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The total return reinsurers and the Floridian carriers in the index came out on top last week.
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The early renewal points to a tough market for cedants hit by California wildfires.
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The Insurance Insider takes a look at reinsurance market dynamics after “near-miss” Dorian.
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Despite the company having excess capital to buy back stock, Braun says his hands are tied on returning capital to shareholders.
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Wind speed is slowing as the hurricane moves north.
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The Category 2 hurricane speeds up slightly as it beats an unprecedented path.
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Along with Florida insurers, some reinsurers' stock prices also increased as the storm stayed away from its initially projected path.
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The storm has slowly started to move northwest away from Grand Bahama where it has been stationary for more than a day.
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The hurricane had been stationary over Grand Bahama but is now slowly beginning to move.
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Axa XL leads the Arkansas-headquartered food company’s property programme, according to market sources.
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Whoever thought it was a good idea to taunt the weather gods in this way?
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The company has created a new management committee as it refocuses on disciplined underwriting.
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The carrier will provide Floridian homeowners insurance online, by phone or via email.
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Aggregate underwriting income in the first half of 2019 fell to some $32.7bn among carriers tracked by the agency.
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One of the long-term, fundamental questions in reinsurance has been the degree to which pricing in one region can affect another.
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Greenlight Re Innovations and three other investors participated in the round
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The investment changes will support the company’s continued push into the property catastrophe space.
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Now that so many ILS platforms are owned by reinsurers, you might think that the debate over whether third-party investors are better served by reinsurer-affiliated ventures or independent platforms has been decisively settled.
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FedNat’s combined ratio was 101.5 percent, up 2.5 percentage points from the prior-year period.
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The three Sunshine State carriers that reported earnings last week suffered operating losses in the quarter.
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Six insurers garner the agency’s second-highest rating, though none make it into the top category.
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The carrier will continue to write more long-tail business to manage down its cat exposure.
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The carrier was hit by increased losses and deteriorating reserves.
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The renewal reflects significant repricing for the quota share following several cat losses in the period.
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Capital Returns has nominated a new board member before seeking discussions with FedNat’s management over various strategic matters.
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California earthquake carrier is giving policy holders $3,000 to strengthen their homes.
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Adverse development from the 2018 accident year adds another $15mn to the tally.
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The carrier is expecting claims to more than double from the year-ago period.
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The modelling agency’s estimate factors in privately insured wind and storm surge losses from property and automobile claims.
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Tropical storm Barry has now strengthened, with the storm expected to make landfall tomorrow as a hurricane, according to data from National Hurricane Center (NHC) reconnaissance flights.
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Outgoing CEO Sean Downes will be executive chairman.
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Total economic losses are not expected to surpass $1.5bn, the broker outlined in its latest monthly catastrophe update.
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The personal lines giant has reined in its loss estimate for Camp Fire as other cedants show creep.
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The series of storms caused economic losses of $2bn, figures from Aon show.
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Assurant is targeting less volatile earnings after amending its reinsurance programme.
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Specialty property carrier Palomar Holdings’ excess of loss reinsurance programme will remain unscathed by losses from the recent earthquakes.
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The California Earthquake Authority has around 2,000 policyholders in the area hit by the 6.4-magnitude quake.
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FedNat has increased its level of aggregate protection in advance of its acquisition of 1347 PIH.
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Reinsurance rates are rising, especially in Florida and retro, but primary market changes are still outstripping the significance of these improvements.
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Capital is returning to the ILS industry after the past two years of losses, Paul Schultz, CEO of Aon Securities, said at the firm’s 2019 ILS event last week.
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The Californian utility has agreed the settlement with 18 public entities following a series of wildfires from 2015 to 2018.
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The reinsurer has secured $60mn of protection against named storms and earthquakes in the US from the capital markets.
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Insurance association GDV says car claims accounted for more than half of the total.
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New deals have brought total year-to-date ILS volumes to $2.9bn, pointing to a shrinking of the market.
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Despite early hopes of sizeable rate rises, reinsurers are frustrated that many accounts will renew with as-before terms.
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Congresswoman Maxine Waters has proposed the new law to end lapses in National Flood Insurance Program coverage.
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There are a few people in Bermuda scratching their heads at some of the loss numbers being discussedI spent the early part of last week in Bermuda and, in between running for cover whenever it rained, my days saw me visiting contacts and hearing their thoughts on the current major market talking points.
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Meredith Head will join the reinsurer in September after more than 10 years at TMR.
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The Floridian carrier bought 8 percent more cover than last year, inclusive of a $3.2bn core cat tower.
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Preliminary data suggests the number of reported tornadoes in the quarter to date is the highest since 2011.
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Experts still forecast an average hurricane season.
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The company’s reinsurance spend as a proportion of earned premium rose to 33.3 percent – up 2 percentage points.
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The tornado, rated an EF-4 and one mile wide, followed a spate of roughly 60 twisters that broke out across the Midwest.
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Protector and Munich Re are in arbitration in Norway over a claim relating to the 2017 fire which killed 72 people.
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It is hoped the Golden State will be able to have the policy in place from the start of next year, The Insurance Insider understands.
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NOAA reports that 60 tornadoes may have struck eight midwestern states on Monday.
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Sister publication Inside P&C examines the first-quarter results from the US.
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Arch Capital backed hedge fund carrier’s outlook graded “stable”.
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The dispute relates to a portion of Protector’s claim for the fire that centres on an additional facultative cover.
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The reinsurance broking start-up is set to close after just eight months.
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After the KRW storms of 2005, I remember interviewing a top reinsurance broker and making the casual remark that the major spike in property cat pricing must be making his bosses very happy. I envisioned bulging brokerage accounts and big bonuses all round at year end.
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The number of events rose to an eight-year high for the month, the broker says.
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The total return reinsurer wrote $42mn of property catastrophe premium in Q1 and expects to add another $10mn by the end of June.
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The carrier was the only Floridian to report loss creep from Hurricane Irma in the quarter.
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Nephila has also stopped buying ILW cover as the market of buyers shrinks.
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Scor “remains open to discussion” about participating in an alternative reinsurance scheme.
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The Floridian missed estimates, but continued diversifying growth outside of Florida.
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The bill was passed in a 37-1 vote and awaits the governor’s signature.
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The Catlin-Brand start-up brings on board senior property underwriters.
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The Bermudian increased its industry insured loss estimate at the end of Q1 from $8bn at the end of last year.
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The asset class appeals to writers of short-tail business, according to GSAM.
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A large hailstorm in Florida was the main contributor to the catastrophe claims.
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Written premiums swelled by 16 percent as the carrier expanded into new commercial lines.
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Blizzards strike Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota and Minnesota with Aon predicting economic and insured losses will reach $100mn.
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The risk modeller released a report examining under-insurance risk in areas at high to extreme risk for natural hazards.
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The second edition of the survey generated a ranking of 227 reinsurance professionals
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The Mexican reinsurer wants to build the relationships with its existing Latin American clients while also building out its Lloyd’s footprint.
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The university predicts there will be 13 tropical storms in 2019.
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Uncontested elections will now require a majority of votes instead of a plurality
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Motor achieves a rare year of underwriting profitability, while attritional claims send aviation further into the red.
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At today’s pricing, most property cat is still a good write for a vast pool of non-insurance capital.
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The reinsurance pool signals a 6.92 percent increase in the rate on line for its 2019 cover.
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The forecast compares with Raymond James' estimate of rate increases of up to 15 percent on loss-affected business.
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A December hailstorm in New South Wales was the costliest event.
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The Western Australian town of Karratha lies in the path of the storm, which skimmed the coast at the same speed as a Category 2 hurricane.
-
High-single-digit to low-double-digit advance driven by big increases on wind and flat quake renewals.
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Flooding continues to hit Midwest states hard.
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Flandro said this new world will see ILS continuing to expand into new perils.
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Florida: Pay as you go cat reserves
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The state-backed insurer is looking to refine its reinsurance programme but overall demand remains subdued after it has depopulated its portfolio.
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Second estimate within a single percentage point of first evaluation
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The National Flood Insurance Program has a total of $1.7bn of exposure in the state.
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That figure represents claims reported through 15 March.
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The five listed Florida-based P&C insurers were pushed into the red by adverse reserve development and Hurricane Michael.
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LGT led the way with its rated start-up Lumen Re.
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With two consecutive years of heavy catastrophe losses, it’s clear why Swiss Re won’t throw caution to the wind – even though the days when it went cap in hand to Warren Buffett are long gone.
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Losses from Hurricane Irma loss have crept up by between 58 percent and 140 percent for Floridian specialist carriers.
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Intervention by Puerto Rican insurance officials comes as Integrand takes its reinsurers to court.
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Mass evacuations follow flooding in Nebraska, while heavy snow in Colorado closes roads and triggers power outages.
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The modelling company’s range for the European storm is significantly higher than the $680mn cost forecast by actuarial consultants Meyerthole Siems Kohlrus.
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Countering the increased demand for public reinsurance, Demotech is seeking to require more overall coverage.
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Nephila, RenRe and Validus go on the record with this publication on the forthcoming 1 June renewals.
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The specialty insurer pulls in executives from Axa Corporate Solutions and Zurich.
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CEO Paresh Patel said the carrier is already buying cover for a greater than one-in-100 return period.
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HCI reported a loss in the fourth quarter stemming from Hurricane Michael claims and unrealized investment losses.
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When I am interviewing prospective new reporters, I always make sure I counter any lingering impression they may have that a career in insurance journalism is going to be in any way boring.
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Discussions ahead of the midyear renewals are now beginning in earnest.
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RMS says 9,000 households remained without power as of Monday following the deadliest day for tornadoes in the US for almost nine years.
-
The Florida-based insurer strengthened its reserves by $97.3mn in the quarter, leading to a $11.2mn pre-tax loss.
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A meaningful rise in property catastrophe rates would leave some Floridian insurers struggling to keep their current ratings.
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Adverse development and a withdrawal of capacity are expected to lead to increased pricing for loss-affected Latin American accounts.
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Transaction numbers declined marginally year on year.
-
Loss estimates for the typhoon have trebled since initial estimates.
-
California has a wildfire problem. That much is abundantly clear after two consecutive years of record wildfire losses in 2017 and 2018.
-
The Eurekahedge ILS Advisers index posted its worst December performance on record.
-
The leading figures in the Latin American reinsurance market are in Miami for the region’s version of the Monte Carlo Rendez-Vous de Septembre.
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Repeated record wildfire losses have seen carriers scale back their offerings.
-
Aside from the noise around elevated catastrophes and lacklustre renewals, Q4 underlying loss ratios continued to rise.
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The online food retailer’s insurance claim is expected to grow through business interruption cover.
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Natural catastrophes added 12 percentage points to the insurer’s combined ratio.
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Record levels of rainfall turned wildfire scars in to mudslides.
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Proposed legislation is backed by the California Insurance Commissioner.
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Flood warnings are in place for Los Angeles, Ventura and Orange County.
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A sharply declining loss ratio leads to a 25.7-point improvement in the unit's combined ratio.
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The Australian financial services group has seen its bottom line suffer at the hands of heightened nat cat activity.
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The per-event retention on Assurant’s catastrophe reinsurance programme has been cut to $80mn from $120mn.
-
The firm reported earnings per share of $0.46, a beat against consensus estimates of $0.38.
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The reinsurer will become the first scheme of its kind to offer non-damage business interruption cover.
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Rates softened slightly as buyers returned to the market.
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The coverholder will have delegated authority for all types of business offered at the carrier’s syndicate at Lloyd’s.
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Mercury General has a $10mn retention on its existing programme, and is thinking about buying more limit at the 1 July renewal.
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Reinsurers did not adequately adjust pricing to account for 2018 losses and 2017 creep, the ratings agency says.
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The cost of the claim fell after carriers took Black Friday discounts into account.
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The internet grocer previously warned the fire would hamper sales growth.
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The executive will oversee major accounts in 17 countries.
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AGCS leads the $200mn general liability policy on dam.
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The insurer will benefit from reduced incentive expenses owed to former executives in the Bermudian firm.
-
Fourth-quarter net profit exceeds forecasts, while the full-year result comes in at the mid-point of the targeted range.
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Many local home insurance policies include flood cover, according to reports.
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The promotion is the latest in Strebel’s 25-year career with the carrier.
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The loss aggregator says the December event will rank as one of the worst hailstorms on record for Australia
-
There will be a reduction in the amount of third party capital in the industry this year, O’Donnell told analysts.
-
The utility has requested permission to continue to pay insurance premiums totalling around $439mn a year.
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JLT Re’s Hart will lead the new unit.
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CEO Kliethermes says RLI will spend between $5mn and $6mn more on its property reinsurance this year.
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Austria is the worst-affected country after up to 4.5 metres of snow fell.
-
The Ontario and Quebec storm in May was the costliest event in a year characterised by a string of mid-sized losses.
-
The final estimate is marginally below July’s projection.
-
The estimate is lower than Munich Re's $80bn forecast but represents the third costliest 12 months for insurers of the past eight years.
-
The losses largely stem from the Camp and Woolsey wildfires and Hurricane Michael.
-
The total of Hurricane Michael claims filed with Floridian insurers through to 11 January has reached $5.02bn, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation said.
-
Wildfire-exposed programmes experienced tighter capacity and increased pricing, the reinsurance broker found.
-
The reinsurer pegs the large man-made loss estimate at $300mn.
-
ARML writes a book of UK regional P&C business and was bought by the carrier in 2010.
-
The deal is AmWins’ second MGA acquisition this month.
-
Arch updated its Q4 cat estimate to $110mn to $130mn, inclusive of its prior $40mn to $60mn Michael loss.
-
The fund steps in once industry losses breached a threshold of about $7.3bn.
-
The president described the situation as "disgraceful".
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Like UK bakery chain Greggs’ feted vegan sausage roll, Swiss Re’s European parametric water-level cover helps plug a gaping market chasm.
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The insurer has nearly $700mn overall in sidecar support including previous transactions.
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The reinsurer has absorbed almost $500mn of losses from its sister company in less than two years.
-
The industry association says insurers have received more than 81,000 claims so far.
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UPC said the coverages and terms within the quota share remain unchanged.
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The California utility faces lawsuits from Allstate, State Farm and USAA, among others.
-
The Australian carrier now has A$9bn of catastrophe reinsurance limit for 2019.
-
The risk modeller has issued a fourth and final estimate a year after the storm.
-
However, sources noted there are positive signs in casualty and marine reinsurance pricing.
-
Clean property catastrophe treaty rates in the US and Europe have swung modestly either side of flat on renewal.
-
The firm recorded a slight aggregate pricing decrease for property cat reinsurance, despite losses affecting negotiations.
-
The state-backed flood insurance scheme re-opens for new business after Fema called a halt on 26 December.
-
Insurance trade associations slam the decision, which they said ran counter to the wishes of the President and Congress.
-
The insider fills a space vacated by Cliff Hope, who is moving to Lexington.
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Fears of a second volcanic eruption are mounting and flights have been redirected away from the area.
-
Pembroke’s cargo facility in London has been placed into orderly run-off.
-
IAG estimates $120mn in claims from the fifth event to be designated a catastrophe this year by the Insurance Council of Australia.
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Trapped collateral after recent catastrophes could buttress pricing, the analysts say.
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The vehicle will target the upper layers of US property catastrophe cover.
-
Natural catastrophes are estimated to account for $71bn of the total.
-
Industry loss estimates are expected to increase as carriers come to terms with their actual exposure to this year’s record-breaking wildfire season.
-
Property D&F rates build momentum, yacht and cargo rates surge, following aviation underwriters push up rates.
-
Homeowners in the state pay more than 9 cents on the dollar of claims for legal costs, three times the amount nationwide, according to a report.
-
Carriers hope the new technology will cut the cost of administering claims.
-
Could 1.1 be a flat cat reinsurance renewal in the US?
-
The company cautioned that its actual losses “may ultimately differ materially” from the estimate.
-
Insurers of all sizes have been hit with claims from the record breaking Camp and Woolsey wildfires.
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Here is an opinion that is likely to be popular with many readers but I think is nonetheless true. Many insurance companies in the US are not buying enough catastrophe reinsurance for the risks they are taking.
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The asset manager retains powerful advocates but fundraising is likely to prove challenging.
-
The carrier said gross losses already totalled about $150mn.
-
Just how important is Markel Catco to the catastrophe reinsurance market?
-
The US Senate is expected to pass a bill from the House of Representatives through.
-
Jo Kendall joins from Willis Re, where she led the London specialty cat modelling team.
-
The managing agent has also restructured into two separate divisions for insurance and reinsurance.
-
The Lloyd’s carrier reports an 11-month investment return of 0.5 percent amid volatile market conditions.
-
Validus is also expected to take a $60mn net loss from the Californian events.
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The executive will set up a financial and professional lines unit.
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Even the best-laid plans rarely survive the briefest of exposures to harsh reality. Insurance is a case in point.
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The European property cat treaty renewal at 1.1 looks set to disappoint.
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The $15bn-$20bn wildfire losses have caused the ILS-dominated retro market to seize up.
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Watson becomes class underwriter for property treaty.
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Regulatory uncertainty has prompted a reduction in capacity, the broker says.
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A lot has changed since InsurTech first barged into the collective (re)insurance vocabulary back in the heady days of 2016.
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The carrier is scrutinising and amending group-wide policy language to clarify coverage for cyber risk across all lines of business.
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Towns are evacuated in the north, while flash flooding cuts power in Australia’s largest city.
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The November fires tear through the Los Angeles carrier's main reinsurance programme.
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The modelling firm lifts its top-end forecast by $1bn.
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Loss estimates for California wildfires crystallising around $10bn-$15bn range.
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PG&E could face $10bn in claims from 2017, with a similar scenario to potentially play out after this year’s fires
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Rock slides and debris flows are expected to accompany a front of bad weather in Northern California.
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The new offering will work alongside its existing ILS operations.
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Cal Fire says it expects the wildfire to be contained by the end of the month.
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Michael accounts for more than three-quarters of the losses.
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The largest wildfire in California history has spread to 138,000 acres.
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The larger blaze, the Camp Fire, is officially the largest fire in the state’s recorded history.
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The modelling firm says more than 48,000 homes are at high or extreme risk
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Analyst predicts Chubb and Travelers could also pick up $400mn if industry insured losses hit $10bn.
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The Camp Fire, near the town of Paradise, Butte County, has destroyed 7,102 structures alone.
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Mounting attritional losses prompt a re-think at Syndicate 1969.
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The possibility of a relationship between the two events puts the utility’s $200mn wildfire cat bond under the spotlight.
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Some 6,500 structures have been destroyed in Paradise, Northern California.
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The Bermudian total return reinsurer aims to reduce its combined ratio by adding higher-volatility, higher-margin business.
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The P&C combined ratio falls to 93.1 percent, though AGCS remains loss-making at an underwriting level.
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The carrier pegged the loss tally from four recent North American and Asian storms at $105mn.
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The carrier reports a 3 percent increase in P&C rates in the nine months to September.
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The carrier lifts its full-year forecast for primary carrier Ergo, while affirming group predictions.
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Throughout the year underwriters have complained that losses from Hurricane Irma have been creeping meaningfully.
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Meanwhile, Fitch affirmed the reinsurer’s financial strength rating at A+ with a stable outlook.
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The Bermuda-based reinsurer’s high net investment income offset its loss on underwriting.
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Although estimates for the Q3 disasters vary, in aggregate the events are likely to generate insured losses north of $10bn.
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The carrier first wrote the full limit of the aggregate deal in 2015.
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The service is the first fully probabilistic model for inland flooding for both typhoon and non-typhoon events in China.
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The loss estimate for last year’s windstorm has risen from EUR255mn as of April.
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The syndicate has gained clearance from market management to write business next year.
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Cat losses for the quarter were worse than expected, driven by Typhoon Jebi, Hurricane Florence and Typhoon Mangkhut.
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Subtle shifts are apparent in reinsurance market share for the counties in the line of Hurricane Michael versus state-wide data.
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The regional carrier has a $35mn retention, which could be partially reduced by additional reinsurance recoveries from supplemental Non-Florida reinsurance program.
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The resort town of Mazatlan is among the areas under threat.
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The insurer's reinsurance cover is expected to be only lightly impacted if claims reach the top end of its $6mn-$18mn gross loss estimate.
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Insurance penetration in countries including Bangladesh and Indonesia has improved since the last report in 2012.
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The new windstorm model will provide updated loss forecasts every 12 hours.
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Hurricane Florence led to $72.5mn in pre-tax claims for carrier.
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Almost two-thirds of the losses are expected to stem from homeowners’ claims.
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The fund manager’s estimate assumes industry-wide Michael losses won’t breach the $10bn threshold.
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The Bermudian is facing $155mn of Q3 cat claims, and shareholders can expect “modest net income” when the company posts its results for the period.
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US auto insurance giant Progressive estimates $60mn of vehicle losses and up to a further $60mn property losses from Hurricane Michael.
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First Protective has a 14 percent share of values insured within the two Michael-struck counties.
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Reinsurers now have fresh impetus to argue for flat renewals at 1 January.
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State Farm writes more than a quarter of homeowners’ cover in the state.
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Analysts expect Q3 cat losses to be manageable for their covered (re)insurance companies.
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CoreLogic has revised upwards its earlier Hurricane Michael insured loss estimate of $2bn to $4.5bn.
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First Protective and USAA lead the list in terms of market share.
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As Hurricane Michael moves off the east coast of the US, it seems that (re)insurers have collectively shrugged off concerns about it being a material insured event.
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Hurricane Michael is expected to bear losses in the mid-to-high single digit billions, with the vast majority of damage occurring in Florida.
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(Re)insurers’ stocks have been left largely untroubled after Hurricane Michael made impact on the Florida Panhandle on Wednesday afternoon.
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Hurricane Michael made landfall in Florida as a Category 4 storm, bringing with it winds of more than 155 mph.
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CCRIF and its predecessor have paid out $136mn in total since 2007.
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Hurricane Michael is strengthening as it makes its way to Florida’s Panama City where it is expected to make landfall as a Category 3 hurricane.
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John Donald moves to the role from the position of managing director.
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Data from the Florida state insurance supervisor gives Universal an 8.3 percent market share in the counties lying in the path of the hurricane.
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A state of emergency is declared in 35 counties as the storm strengthens to a Category 1 hurricane.
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A stronger Hurricane Michael could produce double-digit insured losses.
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Shares fall more than 5 percent in early trading after the carrier warns of up to $75mn in losses from marine events and natural catastrophes.
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The catastrophe loss aggregator delivers its final tally for insured property losses from the storm.
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The storm is on track to hit the northern tip of Japan's Honshu island and the south of Hokkaido island.
-
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The up-to $14.5mn deal follows the group’s May agreement to buy Argentinian InsurTech Inworx for $50.5mn.
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Morgan Stanley predicts multiple catastrophes could push industry losses over the historical Q3 average of $13bn
-
The ratings agency says losses are likely to extend beyond retentions for the big three.
-
The estimate equates to 6.4 percent of shareholder equity.
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The German investment bank says a Covea/Scor combination "makes no sense".
-
A strengthening economic environment and tightening of underwriting following catastrophe losses will lead to improved rates, according to Dr Schanz, Alms & Company.
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A bridge and hotel are among the landmarks reduced to rubble as rescue efforts continue.
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The storm is expected to strengthen to a Category 3 after hitting Okinawa tomorrow.
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Japan's second typhoon in a month is due to hit Okinawa on Saturday.
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AIR’s Mangkhut loss forecast had more exclusions than the liability cover of an ageing US sitcom star.
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The state-backed carrier anticipates 70,800 claims from last year's hurricane and a litigation rate of 30 percent in personal lines.
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The range excludes losses including business interruption and auto claims in mainland China.
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Hong Kong looks set to bear the brunt of the cost, which could match or exceed the $6.8bn wrought by Hato, according to RMS and AIR executives.
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Claims could eat into the National Flood Insurance Program’s reinsurance treaty.
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William Bennett will underwrite all property reinsurance lines at Lloyd's, with a focus on US regional and mutual property reinsurance business.
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Outgoing CEO Inga Beale reports a marginal improvement in underwriting results, buoyed by reserve releases.
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A large hail event drove more than a third of the losses
-
Tokio Marine Kiln confirms it is not among the syndicates that faced a lack of collateral to respond to reinsurance claims.
-
Flooding, wind damage and business interruption losses are expected to rise as the region begins to recover.
-
China Re, ZhongAn and PICC sustain losses after the super-typhoon hammers Hong Kong.
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The property insurer places notes with Cohen & Company and subsidiaries and Fermat Capital Management.
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The estimate falls at the low end of industry expectations for a sub-$10bn loss.
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The Bronek Masojada-led carrier will reduce its capacity by 12.5 percent next year after a 39 percent increase in 2018.
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Whatever the details of the loss or the quantum, Florence is not going to be a market-changing eventAs the dust settles on what at one stage seemed to be the big hurricane of this season, (re)insurers can reflect on what Florence might have brought had it maintained its wind speeds as it made its way towards the Carolinas.
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North Carolina is on high alert after inland flooding and high winds damaged tens of thousands of homes.
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NFIP reinsurers will be untapped for losses under $4bn, analyst Amit Kumar predicted.
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The losses were largely expected to stem from Osaka.
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The National Hurricane Center predicts catastrophic freshwater flooding from the Category 1 hurricane.
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If one thing was apparent this week in the French-speaking principality of Monte Carlo it was the collective “bof” that delegates emitted about the imminent arrival in the US of Hurricane Florence.
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Liability cover and a separate D&O policy held by the bridge operator’s parent could also come into play.
-
Both AIG and Allstate turn to aggregate protections following sequence of mid-sized losses in 2017.
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The carrier has a 19.44 percent share for homeowners' risks and 18.72 percent for private auto.
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Limited loss development from HIM hurricanes has dampened rate hikes, the broker said.
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The German giant is upbeat on property cat, but warns of Irma creep.
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The Cincinnati-based insurer has given Reith and the management team permission to explore an MBO.
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It was previously managed on a rotational basis by Munich Re sand Swiss Re.
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The storm struck the Japanese island of Shikoku last week at the equivalent of a Category 3 hurricane.
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The final outcome of 1 January looks likely once again to counter the typically bullish commentary from reinsurers at Monte Carlo.
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The storm has strengthened to a Category 2 hurricane as it moves in a northwestern direction.
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The storm could hit the southeastern US from as early as Wednesday night, according to the National Hurricane Center.
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Tropical Storm has 50% chance of hitting the Eastern seaboard.
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Rip tides and storm surges are expected in Bermuda next week as a result of the storm.
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Ekhosuehi Iyahen joins the (re)insurance industry partnership from African Risk Capacity.
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Following a benign first half of the year for catastrophe losses, the ratings agency is expecting negligible rate rises in 2019.
-
The Japanese typhoon has an intensity equivalent to a Category 1 hurricane.
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The storm is forecast to bring heavy winds and storm surges of between two and four feet to the mouth of the Mississippi.
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The performance represented an improvement from the 6.8% the industry produced in the same 2017 period.
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The ceiling is just $10mn more than Aspen’s Q3 cat losses
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Allied World Re has promoted Yeo Meng Wong from an underwriting role to senior vice president and general manager.
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The Japanese company will have 51 percent of the new entity but just one board seat.
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Californians have had a steady diet of wildfires this summer, but something else in the state is burning insurers up.
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More than 19-inches of rain fell on the northeast of Hawaii's Big Island in a 24-hour period.
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The storm may reach the state’s Big Island as a Cat 3 hurricane later today.
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The Florida company is one of several smaller, reinsurance-dependent carriers within the State Farm-dominated Hawaiian market.
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The hurricane is likely to remain at category four status as it approaches the islands.
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The storm is expected to make landfall over eastern Shikoku today.
-
The storm is currently not forecast to make landfall, though heavy rainfall and damaging storm surge is expected.
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‘Raging wildfires’ to become more common despite quietest H1 in a decade
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Property damage increased sharply as the disaster unfolded.
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The blazes have destroyed or affected more than 2,000 buildings.
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The Hobart catastrophe is Australia's largest natural disaster so far this year.
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The state's worst floods since 1924 are estimated to generate a far lower $71mn in insured losses.
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The carrier has confirmed its Corporate Solutions arm is one of the insurers for Autostrade per l’Italia.
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The team, led by Paul Jenkins, is understood to be in consultation.
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The catastrophe modelling firm assesses wildfire risk within the 13 westernmost bordering US states.
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Some 92.6 percent of residential claims have now been paid.
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The combined Ranch and River Fires now threaten 10,300 buildings.
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Flooding in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam could result in litigation.
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The fires continue to sweep across the state but the Carr blaze is coming under control.
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The insurer’s catastrophe claims came in below budget for the second quarter, but it is close to triggering a reinsurance deal covering severe non-cat losses.
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The fire is now estimated to have destroyed some 1,546 structures and is threatening a further 1,658.
-
News that 2018 will likely be the fourth hottest year and that the only more oppressive ones have been 2015, 2016 and 2017 leads me to believe that the record heat and what it has helped create – more flooding, more hurricanes, more tornadoes – just may be saving the insurance industry.
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Firefighters are racing to stop the spread of fires, which have so far destroyed 972 homes.
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Property cat reinsurance rate rises still lag behind those of primary insurance, executives said during Q2 conference calls.
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The companies estimate the tie-up will be worth an initial $30mn in gross written premiums a year.
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Firefighters struggle to contain "fire tornadoes" in a blaze which threatens to destroy another 4,000 structures.
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The Everglades National Park is an apt metaphor for the Florida insurance market.
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The blaze more than doubled in size over the weekend amid strong winds and dry conditions.
-
The Lancashire CEO welcomes Jon Hancock’s hard line on underperforming Lloyd’s syndicates.
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Lava damage is excluded from treaties by hours clauses
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Vicky Baxter and Lucy Forcey will join Greg Roberts' US cat treaty team.
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If every moving picture had induced panic in spectators during the fledgling years of cinematic technology, you probably wouldn’t be reading this on a screen right now.
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The insurer’s net income rises 89 percent but hail and wind hounded personal lines in June.
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Even with the most in-depth data, those attempting to estimate the insured or economic loss from a major hurricane are always bound to be off by some degree, especially when it comes to complex events such as hurricanes hitting densely populated areas.
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The catastrophe data firm delivers its third estimate of claims from the January storm.
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Is the P&C (re)insurance industry gradually losing its defensiveness? A defensive stock is one less correlated to the broader market due to lower macro-sensitivity, typically companies like consumer non-discretionary companies and utilities.
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Aon Benfield estimates economic damage from Typhoon Maria to date at about $430mn.
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The global broker has agreed to develop a coverage model for the Mesoamerican Reef.
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Despite the high cost to human life, property losses remain relatively low.
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The month was one of the most active for catastrophe events to date in 2018.
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The Brazilian investment bank has acquired start-up ILS manager Lutece Investment Management after seeding its funds.
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Daihatsu and Panasonic are among the other manufacturers to have halted operations following flooding and landslides which killed more than 110 people.
-
The weather front is set to pass to the south of the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
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Mazda and Daihatsu plants have been closed temporarily following record flooding.
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Carriers will have to ‘get serious’ on creating leaner business models after property cat rates made little ground at 1.6 and 1.7.
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ILS participation may well be approaching saturation point in the catastrophe market.
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Roof damage has been a particular pinch point for Irma claims, sources said.
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Timothy Antoine takes over from Milo Pearson for a three-year term.
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This is the third estimate issued by the natural catastrophe risk modelling firm, up from EUR680mn in April.
-
The sidecar issued $278mn of debt earlier this week.
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The Lexington CEO has left along with three other property underwriting executives.
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The latest issuance includes European windstorm, as well as US wind and quake.
-
State Farm and USAA report claims surge from 13 June storm’s baseball-sized hail.
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Earthquake capacity continues to grow and is now at an all-time high, seeing the same ugly pricing as elsewhere in the property sector, according to AmWins.
-
Almost 1 million insurance claims have been filed in the state since the hurricane.
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The launch follows RSG’s creation of a reinsurance MGU.
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The cat loss modeller says 20,000 residential buildings were damaged.
-
The Corporation has warned syndicates to address unprofitable business or face closure.
-
Open-market property and marine are the worst-performing areas.
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Liberty will continue to write the line of business and intends to grow the book.
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The property cover is written by the Australian domestic and London D&F markets.
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Anna Sweeney of the Prudential Regulation Authority has warned that firms “may be taking false comfort” from losses that turned out to be largely manageable.
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The executive will focus on retrocessional property catastrophe business at the Bermuda company.
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US commercial property underwriters see rate increases in the mid- to high-single digits at 1.6.
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Alternative sources of capital ‘ripped up’ the pricing rule book.
-
The London and US market are finally coming into line on property insurance renewal rates.
-
Two thirds of the carrier's $387mn national catastrophe losses resulted from Storm Friederike
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The 1.6 renewals have further highlighted the inelasticity of cat reinsurance pricing.
-
Property losses in 2017 spurred premium rate gains that could be short-lived.
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The insurer now has reinsurance for up to $3bn of losses from a Florida hurricane.
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Ellicott City is in worse shape than two years ago, one official believes.
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A trio of agencies have collectively estimated 13 named storms, at least six hurricanes and two major hurricanes.
-
Nearly 100 more hurricane-related fraud investigations remain under way.
-
Thunderstorms and hail were the main causes of the damage, the modelling agency said.
-
The ratings agency still retains a negative outlook on the sector, however.
-
The Texan insurer of last resort is also looking to buy an extra $100mn of reinsurance limit at 1 June.
-
The retro writer said its 2017 portfolio loss would rise to 41 percent of net asset value.
-
Given how much of its asset base was locked up if not lost, the fact that it pulled off the feat of bringing in more than $2.3bn to enable it to renew its portfolio for 2018 was impressive.
-
The sector’s investment gains came at the same time cat losses caused a decline in net income.
-
Raymond James cites an improving combined ratio for making the homeowners' insurance provider a strong buy
-
Snow and hail cause $1.2bn of insured losses in Europe, Impact Forecasting says.
-
State-backed carrier is authorised to spend up to $92mn to acquire catastrophe coverage.
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The reinsurer is the latest in a stream of first-time users of the cat bond market.
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Executives share their views on pricing across primary and reinsurance lines in Q1.
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The Spanish insurer's commercial specialty division rebounds from a period of large losses.
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Rob Berkley, CEO of WR Berkley, has said his firm will not pull out of reinsurance despite what he termed a “frustrating” period for the segment.
-
North American winter storms took their toll on several carriers during the first quarter of 2018.
-
Allstate took an estimated $361mn in pre-tax catastrophe losses and unfavourable cat reserve developments in the first quarter.
-
Estimated losses from Hurricane Irma in Florida have surpassed $8.6bn while more than 40 percent of commercial claims from the September storm remain unresolved, new state data show.
-
Tumbling cat bond prices continue to exert pressure on the wider reinsurance market and are likely to curb rate increases at the upcoming Florida renewal.
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USAA has launched the $175mn Residential Re 2018-1 cat bond, which will provide US multi-peril cover, sister publication Trading Risk reported.
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PCS has increased its loss number for Hurricane Harvey to $17.1bn from $15.7bn, according to Trading Risk sources.
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Last year was the worst on record for catastrophe losses, but (re)insurers must be prepared for the possibility of more frequent multiple-disaster years in future, according to a Swiss Re report.
-
Global reinsurance capital continued to rise in 2017 as alternative capital funds reloaded, according to Aon Benfield.
-
Hailstorms that struck southern US states including Texas last week are likely to cause "hundreds of millions" of dollars of economic and insured losses, according to Aon Benfield's Impact Forecasting report.
-
A Church’s Chicken franchisee has filed a lawsuit in Texas accusing several Lloyd’s underwriters of not living up to their commercial policies when it comes to 54 stores affected by Hurricane Harvey.
-
Swiss Re Corporate Solutions (SRCS) has launched a standalone excess and surplus lines (E&S) business unit for North America as it looks to expand in the space.
-
Swiss Re has restructured its specialty reinsurance management structure, reducing the number of divisions from five to two, The Insurance Insider can reveal.
-
US commercial property insurance rate increases are already calming as the initial reaction from underwriters to record 2017 cat losses is tempered by the realities of a well-capitalised P&C industry, according to Willis Towers Watson.
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Brit Insurance’s head of property treaty in Bermuda, Julia Henderson, has left the company, The Insurance Insider can reveal.
-
AIG has taken a huge 40 percent line on a newly consolidated property cover for retail giant Walmart that rolls its expiring US placement into a global structure, The Insurance Insider can reveal.
-
Aspen Bermuda has returned to the cat bond market for the first time since the 2008 financial crisis, as it seeks to raise $150mn to cover US and European catastrophe risk, sister publication Trading Risk has reported.
-
Selective Insurance Group recorded $26mn in net pre-tax catastrophe losses in the first quarter, mainly from an early January blizzard that hit the US Northeast and several Nor’easters that struck the region last month.
-
A more active Atlantic storm season this year is likely to produce seven hurricanes, three of them major, according to forecasters at Colorado State University.
-
Liberty Syndicate 4472 fell to a $118.7mn loss last year amid a high volume of major losses from three major North Atlantic hurricanes, California wildfires and the Adnoc refinery explosion.
-
The US Federal Emergency Management Agency plans to turn to the insurance-linked securities market to bolster its flood cover through a July placement.
-
Head of Arcus Syndicate 1856, Rajiv Punja, has left the company, sister publication Trading Risk has reported.
-
Property reinsurance rates remained broadly flat on loss-free accounts at the 1 April renewals, according to a Willis Re report.
-
Catastrophe data aggregator Perils has pegged its second loss estimate for extra-tropical Cyclone Eleanor, also known as Burglind, at EUR680mn ($836.7mn).
-
Catastrophe losses inevitably dominated the headlines in 2017. This is just the nature of the specialty P&C (re)insurance universe. Yet, the underlying results also continue to paint a bleak picture.
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The majority of P&C (re)insurers in our coverage reported an underwriting loss for 2017 due to the impact of the year's catastrophe events.
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London-based (re)insurance broker Ed has appointed Dean Herman as divisional director for the risk solutions team.
-
The Corporation of Lloyd's yesterday issued a strong denial that it was under pressure from the ratings agencies or the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) to scale back the amount of catastrophe risk it is running.
-
The majority of carriers in our coverage universe grew their books during the year, with the expansion largely driven by reinstatement premiums and back-up covers following the third quarter catastrophes.
-
The Insurance Insider looks in detail at the results for Lloyd's reinsurance, property and casualty segments
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Argo Group has withdrawn from writing primary habitational business via its Lloyd's syndicate, The Insurance Insider has learned.
-
Texas needs to become more like Florida, and insurers must help with the makeover.
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A massive spending bill President Donald Trump signed into law today includes hundreds of millions of dollars to fund pre-disaster mitigation efforts and flood plain mapping, a category targeted for a substantial cut in the White House budget proposal for fiscal 2019.
-
The UK government plans to expand the scope of Pool Re to allow the scheme to provide reinsurance for non-damage business interruption (BI) caused by terrorism.
-
The financial strength rating of Canopius Re has been cut one notch to A- by AM Best following the private equity-backed $952mn acquisition of the parent from Tokyo-based Sompo Holdings.
-
The initial $40bn-$85bn insured loss estimate put out by AIR Worldwide for Hurricane Maria was a key driver of post-event market dynamics as insurance-linked securities funds reloaded last autumn, according to panelists at the Insider US conference last week.
-
Carriers in our global reinsurance composite showed diverging top line growth trends in 2017, with Swiss Re lowering its non-life P&C premium volume during the period while Hannover Re and Everest Re posted solid growth.
-
Global reinsurers' underwriting margins evaporated last year due to losses generated by the second-half natural catastrophes.
-
London property direct and facultative underwriters have voiced frustration at the direction of 1 April renewal discussions, as it becomes clear that rate increases on loss-free business will lag expectations.
-
The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has declared a catastrophe event for bushfires that swept through rural parts of New South Wales and Victoria states over the weekend.
-
Brit has appointed Neil Walker to the role of head of UK property.
-
London open market property players may be surprised at Markel's decision to pull out of the sector, but maybe not that surprised.
-
Catastrophe modelling firms were taken to task by Mike Millette, managing partner of Hudson Structured Capital Management, after he criticised the broad range of estimates provided for Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria.
-
The California Earthquake Authority obtained $700mn of additional new limit in its January reinsurance placement, according to recent agenda documents published on the organisation's website.
-
Direct Insurance Group's Rokstone Underwriting has launched a new property treaty division with $10mn of capacity.
-
Markel International will stop writing open market property business in the London market, the carrier announced this morning.
-
Shipowners with loss-free accounts have received low-single-digit rate decreases on protection and indemnity cover at general renewals for the 2018/19 policy year.
-
Florida-based Heritage has already secured quotes of flat pricing from underwriters for hundreds of millions of dollars of limit on its 2018 property cat placement, according to chairman and CEO Bruce Lucas.
-
The Insurance Insider's group of London-listed carriers - Beazley, Hiscox and Lancashire - all posted worse underwriting margins for 2017 due to the year's catastrophe events.
-
Leadenhall Capital Partners has confirmed the launch of a new fund at the January renewals which covers remote risk, sister publication Trading Risk has reported.
-
Catastrophe data aggregator Perils has cut its loss estimate for last year's cyclone Zeus by 4.2 percent in its final evaluation of the damage.
-
Property insurers are set to pay out around $50mn to Virgin founder Richard Branson for damage relating to his private Necker Island resort, The Insurance Insider understands.
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Property insurers are set to pay out around $50mn to Virgin founder Richard Branson for damage relating to his private Necker Island resort, The Insurance Insider understands.
-
A fragmented Florida homeowners' market means reinsurance buying strategies are likely to diverge between now and 1 June as some cedants move to secure capacity early and others sit tight in the hope of striking a better deal later on.
-
Zenkyoren's Nakama Re 2018-1 cat bond has more than doubled in the course of marketing to reach $700mn, after being marketed with an initial size of $250mn, sister publication Trading Risk has learned.
-
Floridian carrier Heritage Insurance Holdings expects to claim $104.4mn from several tranches of its Citrus Re cat bond issuances following Hurricane Irma, sister title Trading Risk has learned.
-
Swiss Re's 2017 net profit dropped by 91 percent to an above-forecast $331mn, with the losses in the company's reinsurance and commercial insurance businesses largely offset by life earnings.
-
A 7.2-magnitude earthquake which hit Mexico on Friday (16 February) will not trigger a payout from the World Bank's new CAR 118-119 cat bond, sister publication Trading Risk reported.
-
Aspen has shut down its Bermuda-based US property insurance unit as it takes steps to reshape its book of business in the aftermath of heavier than expected 2017 cat losses, The Insurance Insider can reveal.
-
Lancashire's share price dropped by more than 5 percent after it fell to a pre-tax loss of $3.2mn in Q4 2017, as heavy wildfire losses contributed to a combined ratio of 119.5 percent.
-
Independent Lloyd's broker AFL has bolstered its P&C leadership with the hires of Barry Rowland and Chris Cavani.
-
Loss-affected US property catastrophe insurance accounts are facing rate hikes of 20 to 25 percent, according to broker Willis Towers Watson.
-
Windstorms did over $3bn of economic damage in Europe last month while an historic deep freeze in the US coupled with winter storms exacted $1.1bn in costs, Aon Benfield Impact Forecasting unit said.
-
A ramping up of rhetoric from the local regulator, pending lawsuits and prospective legislation are combining to complicate the question of which firms will pay claims related to December's Californian mudslides.
-
Carriers and brokers have published their best estimates for natural catastrophe losses across the 2017 calendar year, with figures ranging from Swiss Re's $131bn to JLT Re's $140bn.
-
Underlying loss ratios in the fourth quarter increased at all but one of the P&C (re)insurers in our study, highlighting the prevalent trend of loss-cost inflation running ahead of earned rate.
-
The P&C (re)insurance industry experienced another cat-heavy quarter in the three months to 31 December, as a series of wildfires ravaged California.
-
State Farm, the California market leader in homeowners’ multi-peril coverage, has paid out over $1.3bn in claims stemming from wildfires in the Golden State last year.
-
XL Group is reducing volatility in the cat space through its ceded programmes as it reshapes its "earnings engine" following last year's catastrophe losses, according to CEO Mike McGavick.
-
Richard Trubshaw of Managing Agency Partners has been voted the top US property catastrophe underwriter, according to The Insurance Insider's US property cat rankings for 2018.
-
Catastrophe data aggregator Perils has revised its property insured loss estimate for cyclone Herwart to EUR255mn ($317mn).
-
The claim arising from a blaze at an Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) facility a year ago has deteriorated by as much as $1bn, and could now cost the market $2bn, The Insurance Insider can reveal.
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Argo Group’s results will take a pre-tax fourth quarter hit of up to $38mn from catastrophe losses, mainly the Southern California wildfires, the carrier said late today.
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Windstorm Friederike caused estimated insured losses of EUR800mn ($979.9mn) in Germany, according to actuarial firm Meyerthole Siems Kohlruss (MSK).
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For every $1 spent by US agencies on mitigating natural hazard risks such as flood, wind, earthquake or wildfire, there is a $6 benefit in terms of saving lives and property, a National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) study shows.
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Beazley is expecting pre-tax profits for 2017 to beat market expectations, and to remain in the black at the combined ratio level.
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An Italian tax change to encourage the purchase of catastrophe cover could spur a slight increase in home insurance premiums, according to Fitch Ratings
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Insurers trying to assess the damage from two of the coldest weeks ever in the Midwest and Northeast will have to brace for more potential havoc, as rain and sleet hit those regions ahead of the weekend and plunging temperatures are set to return.
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Al Tobin and a trio of property broking executives have moved to Alliant from Aon Risk Services, The Insurance Insider can reveal.
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Mudslides created by torrential rainfall on burned-over, bone dry hillsides along the Southern California coast between Santa Barbara and Los Angeles produced losses that will likely rise above $100mn, Aon Benfield said late Thursday.
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Heavy rain in California overnight has triggered severe mudslides, which have killed at least 13 people, according to media reports.
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Public organisations in the UK are buying more terrorism insurance, research by Tussell has found.
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December losses from the California wildfires are likely to put a sizeable dent in US P&C fourth quarter earnings, according to JP Morgan analyst Sarah DeWitt.
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Rate increases achieved by the property direct and facultative (D&F) market at 1 January could herald the beginning of a slow recovery in the class, which has been one of the greatest victims of the prolonged soft market.
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Property catastrophe reinsurance renewal pricing came in below the levels hoped for by reinsurers, as the relative attractiveness of the class for traditional players and the efficiency of the ILS funds in reloading dampened post-loss rate rises.
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Ethos Specialty Insurance Services has hired a head of property from Liberty International Underwriters, as the new Ascot MGA platform builds out its business
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The US city of Boston has been inundated with icy flood water following a storm surge generated by a "bomb cyclone" which pelted the East Coast yesterday.
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Barbican is setting up a Bermuda platform initially focused on US-domiciled property direct and facultative (D&F) business that will be led by former Novae underwriter Nik Lucking, The Insurance Insider can reveal
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Carriers hit by California wildfire claims will not face ratings actions by AM Best, which said today that the record insured losses from the October fires in the wine country north of San Francisco were “within insurers’ risk tolerances”.
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Pfizer's $450mn loss notification, as we revealed yesterday, is another piece added to the vast and complex Puerto Rico loss puzzle following the devastation of Hurricane Maria
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Reinsurers look unlikely to achieve a meaningful correction in US property catastrophe reinsurance pricing at 1 January, but will be able to point to a better than expected casualty renewal.
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Reinsurance pricing reflects market fundamentals. And that is the story of this renewal to date.
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Florida's state-backed insurer is preparing for a challenging 2018 that will see ongoing profitability pressures from assignment of benefits (AOB)-driven non-weather losses and an increase in reinsurance costs.
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Reading external budget documents is unlikely to be high on the to-do list for reinsurers and brokers entering the frenetic last couple of weeks of a 1.1 renewal season that has run late and proved challenging.
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The London property binders market is resisting rate decreases on US business at renewal in the wake of losses from the North Atlantic hurricanes.
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At least $3.8bn of new capital has been raised in the space following significant losses from hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria (HIM), according to Trading Risk data.
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Markel Catco has increased its fund loss reserves for its Catco Reinsurance Opportunities Fund by 4.4 percent of net asset value (NAV) in response to October's California wildfires.
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Equity analyst meetings in Bermuda have pointed to lower reinsurance pricing increases than initially anticipated at the January renewals, with rate rises in US property in the high single digits and only loss- impacted accounts seeing double-digit growth.
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Early momentum for reinsurers in the US property catastrophe treaty renewals is fast evaporating as cedants increasingly exploit excess capital to cap rate rises, The Insurance Insider understands.
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Chubb has named Brian Church executive vice president and head of international property for its overseas general business.
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California’s biggest wildfire had grown to over 237,000 acres by early morning in the Golden State and had consumed over 700 homes, but fire authorities said the Thomas fire was 25 percent contained by then.
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Slow progress is being made on the Thomas fire currently ablaze in Southern California, with 20 percent of the fire contained as of Tuesday morning, according to reports.
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Property cat reinsurers and brokers negotiating 1.1 renewals are reacting to a developing California wildfire situation that could disrupt specific placements and add upwards pressure to broader pricing dynamics.
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Complications in accessing Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria's landfall in September have meant that not even half of the expected insured claims have been notified, according to Charles Taylor Adjusting.
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Cincinnati Re has hired Bill Lazzaro from Hiscox Re as it continues to build out its management team and execute an allocated capital strategy that has delivered strong top-line growth over the last year, The Insurance Insider can reveal.
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US nationwide carriers recorded the largest net exposures to losses from the wildfires that struck California in October relative to the P&C industry's other peer groups.
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US nationwide carriers recorded the largest net exposures to losses from the wildfires that struck California in October relative to the P&C industry's other peer groups.
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Catastrophe data aggregator Perils has estimated the property insured loss from Extratropical Cyclone Herwart as EUR252mn ($297mn).
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The Thomas fire in California has grown to the size of New York, making it the fifth largest wildfire in recorded state history, according to media reports.
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Wildfires scorching huge areas of Southern California since last week have put at least 13,526 homes at extreme or high risk of damage, real estate data and analytics provider CoreLogic estimates.
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Validus expects a $30mn net impact from the October California wildfires, which equates to only a marginal hit to shareholders' equity.
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Wildfires spread across the greater Los Angeles area Thursday, with flames racing northwest to threaten the coastal city of Santa Barbara and new blazes erupting in San Diego, Riverside and San Bernardino counties to add to potential catastrophe losses.
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The Bank of England has called on major UK insurers to improve how they model catastrophes, following results from a recent stress test that included four disaster scenarios.
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Investment bank Jefferies has warned that (re)insurer loss estimates from hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria and the two Mexican earthquakes in September are likely to rise next year, fuelling rate increases in 2018.
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Four new wildfires have torn through southern California, forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands of people and destroying hundreds of buildings, according to reports.
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The Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) has announced it would submit a claim to recover the whole of the $1.042bn of reinsurance coverage for the National Flood Insurance Program, following losses from Hurricane Harvey alone.
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The California wine country wildfires in October left at least $9bn in insured losses, the state’s industry regulator said today as a fresh set of fires raged in the Los Angeles area.
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AIR Worldwide has significantly lowered its range of loss estimates for Hurricane Maria to $27bn-$48bn, The Insurance Insider understands.
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Florida’s state-controlled Citizens won double-digit wind-only hikes for next year as regulators set the carrier’s rates today, mandating increases of as much as 10.1 percent.
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FM Global has told its reinsurers that it does not expect Hurricane Maria claims in Puerto Rico to attach its main property cat excess-of-loss programme, The Insurance Insider can reveal.
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Berkshire Hathaway has the largest exposure on Pacific Gas and Electric's $850mn general liability programme, which could be significantly eroded by the Californian wildfires, The Insurance Insider can reveal.
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The prospect of Pacific Gas and Electric burning through an estimated $850mn of liability cover will only add momentum to underwriters' push for 2018 rate hikes across the US casualty market.
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USAA has retained half the principal of its $80mn Residential Re 2013-2 class 1 cat bond and extended the risk period beyond a 6 December maturity date ahead of a possible California wildfire claim.
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Capital Insurance Group's heavily loss-impacted property catastrophe reinsurance programme has been firm ordered with a pure premium rise of around 20 percent, The Insurance Insider can reveal.
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Lloyd's (re)insurer Neon is seeking to raise $60mn of third-party capital from a sidecar that could be the first vehicle set up under the new London ILS regulations, sources said.
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A persistent gap between flood-damaged homes and businesses that are insured against the risk and total property losses from such events may be partly explained by new data showing that 23 percent of at-risk properties lie outside designated US flood hazard areas.
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Spanish (re)insurer Mapfre pegged gross third quarter cat claims in North America and the Caribbean at EUR1.1bn ($1.3bn) as it announced a geographic revamp including a retreat from five US states.
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Lloyd's CEO Inga Beale has described 2017 as "one of the costliest years on record" for the market, after hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria.
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Asbestos remains a persistent source of industry losses, with an estimated $13bn funding gap between the $100bn projected total liability for the US P&C industry and the $87bn paid out or reserved through last year, according to AM Best data.
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Insured losses in Georgia following Hurricane Irma have climbed to $670mn, according to the state’s Department of Insurance.
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Swiss Re has emerged as the largest reinsurer for the biggest Californian primary P&C writers, with nearly $2.0bn of premiums assumed in 2016 and reinsurance relationships with seven out of the top 10 regional insurers, analysis from The Insurance Insider shows
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Bermuda’s premier said he wants (re)insurers to remain prosperous and grow in the territory in a pitch intended to woo senior industry executives amid global political uncertainty.
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The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB)'s backing of Bermudian reinsurer Ascot Re is a further $1bn commitment to the (re)insurance industry by the pension fund.
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The first European catastrophe reinsurance renewals have priced, and may point the way towards low single-digit rate increases for international cat accounts at 1 January.
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New Bermudian reinsurer Ascot Re will initially target global catastrophe reinsurance with a bias towards North America, Ascot CEO Andrew Brooks has said
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The US property and casualty sector slumped in the first nine months of the year to deliver a $20bn underwriting loss after a trio of hurricanes pushed the industry combined ratio to the highest level in five years, according to rating agency AM Best.
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Insurance rates worldwide fell through the third quarter despite the string of catastrophic events in late August and September, according to pricing data compiled by Marsh.
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Hannover Re executives said that the firm had exhausted a new multi-territory, multi-peril EUR100.0mn ($117.7mn) aggregate cover as its retro programme responded to third quarter losses.
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Canopius' HIM numbers took us by surprise yesterday. Its (soon to be former) parent company Sompo revealed the Lloyd's managing agent would shoulder a burden of $190mn from the three hurricanes, along with a small loss relating to the Mexican earthquakes.
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Insurers have been put on notice over misleading statements allegedly made by adjusters to victims of the wildfires that ravaged California last month.
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Loss claims from Hurricane Irma drew near $6bn in Florida last week, the state’s insurance regulator has reported.
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Falvey Insurance Group plans to close its yacht underwriting business just weeks after The Insurance Insider reported the managing general agent had handed $70mn of losses to Lloyd’s.
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Catastrophe losses pushed MS Amlin to a net loss of £324mn ($428.9mn) for the six months to 30 September, against a £38mn profit in the prior-year period, according to filings from parent MS&AD.
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First came the fear, then the relief and then, arguably, a creeping complacency
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Reinsurer profitability may drop to a six-year low because of the spate of catastrophes in the third quarter and it could take years for some to recoup lost profit, AM Best said today.
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Flash flooding has killed 10 people in Greece, according to media reports.
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The Lloyd's market should not get distracted by recent major catastrophes and see them as the answer to all of its problems, performance management director Jon Hancock has said.
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Third party managing agent Asta has received final clearance from Lloyd's for special purpose arrangement (SPA) Agora to start writing business as a full syndicate in January
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California’s wildfires last month would set a record for insured losses if claims reach currently projected totals, Aon Benfield’s Impact Forecasting unit said today.
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Lockton has hired Gareth Davies, the former CEO of JLT Bermuda Specialty, as senior vice president, property, Bermuda
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Regular ILS sponsors USAA and XL Catlin have topped up their cat bond cover in the first transactions completed after the 2017 hurricane losses, with pricing on the deals showing an increase in rates.
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Berkshire Hathaway included estimated pre-tax losses of $3bn for the trio of Q3 hurricanes and one of the Mexican earthquakes as it reported a pre-tax underwriting loss of $2.21bn in its (re)insurance operations.
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Mark Rayner's special purpose arrangement (SPA) with Apollo has hired MS Amlin's Chris Board to write its international property treaty book, The Insurance Insider can reveal
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Protagonists in the insurance industry must collaborate internally and with outside partners or risk losing their relevance as customer needs increase, said Aon CEO Greg Case
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Willis Towers Watson's corporate risk and broking segment posted organic growth of 4 percent in the third quarter, and said it expected rate rises on US catastrophe-exposed property accounts after a succession of major losses
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Property and casualty insurance will be rolled out on electronic placing platform Placing Platform Limited (PPL) on 6 November, The Insurance Insider has learned
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The battle lines are being drawn in Asia between reinsurers and cedants ahead of the 1 January renewals, as the sector continues to come to terms with the remarkable string of third quarter cat losses.
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Losses from California’s October wildfires have jumped over $3bn and are expected to rise further, the state’s insurance commissioner said today.
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After years of malaise, the (re)insurance market may finally be facing a sea change following heavy third quarter catastrophe losses, as underwriting executives scramble to talk up rates.
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WKFC Underwriting has launched a new property consortium with a quartet of high-profile carriers offering up to $100mn of combined limit, The Insurance Insider can reveal.
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The London market is driving a push for higher property rates, which is good timing for Axis after closing its purchase of Novae, according to the Bermudian's president and CEO Albert Benchimol
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Talanx has warned it will post a Q3 group net loss of around EUR20mn ($23mn), following an expected EUR900mn of losses for hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, and the earthquakes in Mexico.
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Tropical Storm Philippe brought strong winds and heavy rain to the US northeast overnight, leaving many without power, according to reports.
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Markel has estimated it will take a $40mn-$80mn hit as a result of the Californian wildfires.
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Perils increased its industry loss estimate for the central Italian earthquakes that struck last October by two-thirds in its final report on the disasters.
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Munich Re has warned it expects to post a loss of EUR1.4bn ($1.6bn) for the third quarter as a result of EUR3.2bn of major claims for the period.
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Scor reported a group operating loss of EUR364mn ($429mn) for the third quarter, as EUR598mn of pre-tax net Q3 catastrophe losses pushed the reinsurer into the red.
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Shares in Mapfre rose by 6 percent today after it estimated net losses from hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria and the Mexican earthquakes at EUR176mn ($207mn).
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A string of wildfires that struck northern California’s wine region earlier this month will lead to an estimated $2bn to $3bn in industry insured losses, AIR Worldwide said.
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Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria (HIM) will trigger capital reallocations at some insurers but will not jeopardise the solvency of Lloyd's carriers, according to Lloyd's director of performance management Jon Hancock.
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Hannover Re said it would target loss-stricken business for payback from Q3 catastrophe losses, and strive for stable rates on loss-free reinsurance lines and geographies.
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The onslaught of catastrophes in the third quarter could serve as a springboard for commercial rate hikes in the US, if commentary by early reporter and industry bellwether Travelers is anything to go by.
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Brokers and reinsurers fought for position at the PCI annual meeting in Chicago last week ahead of a 1 January renewal that looks increasingly difficult to call.
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Rate softening in the European reinsurance market will come to an end in January as the insurance sector responds to a $100bn third quarter cat bill.
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Typhoon Lan swept across much of Japan’s main island today, bringing a deadly mix of high winds and drenching rainfall that exceeded 30 inches (762mm) in some areas.
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Hannover Re has dampened expectations of a widespread and significant uptick in catastrophe rates at the 1 January treaty renewals, saying prices for German nat cat covers "should at least remain stable".
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Former Dual CEO Talbir Bains is set to launch a European treaty MGA called Horizon with former Sompo Canopius executive Eric Gutiérrez, The Insurance Insider can reveal
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Swiss Re has estimated its Q3 pre-tax loss from hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria (HIM) and the two Mexican earthquakes at $3.6bn, net of retrocession.
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Japanese big-three player Sompo Holdings has estimated its net losses from hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria and the two Mexican earthquakes at about 70bn yen ($621mn).
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Travelers leaders buttressed expectations for commercial rate hikes yesterday as the property and casualty industry copes with third quarter catastrophe losses and years of price erosion
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Insured losses from the Californian wildfires are currently estimated at $1.045bn, according to the insurance commissioner of California.
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Lockton has begun setting expectations for property clients post-HIM by warning that carriers are pushing for rate rises of at least 20 percent on loss-struck cat-exposed accounts, The Insurance Insider can reveal
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Zurich is expecting a $717mn Q3 hit as a result of hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria.
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The size and location of industry losses from Hurricane Maria could be the "surprise" for some insurance-linked securities (ILS) investors that drives a transitional US property cat reinsurance market in the lead-up to 1.1, according to JLT Re North America CEO Ed Hochberg
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Those waiting for signs of the impact on insurance rates from the spate of third quarter hurricanes will have to wait until the New Year, according to Brown & Brown CEO Powell Brown
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The Mexican state education authority is leading a string of direct and facultative (D&F) losses expected by the London market following the two earthquakes which struck the country in September.
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Wildfires that have ravaged California wine country came under partial control over the weekend, and rain forecast for later this week may let firefighters halt the advance of multiple blazes that have destroyed at least 5,350 structures in the region and left dozens of people dead.
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These Mexican losses are just the tip of the iceberg for the London direct and facultative (D&F) market.
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Ratings agency Moody's has estimated that the total insured loss from the Californian wildfires has risen to $4.6bn, based on the number of structures now believed to have been destroyed.
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The Atlantic season's latest hurricane, Ophelia, caused $1.8bn (EUR1.5bn) of damage and disruption in Ireland after making landfall on Monday as the most powerful storm to hit the country since Hurricane Debbie in 1961.
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The Irish government has called a national emergency after ex-hurricane Ophelia struck the country yesterday, bringing winds of up to 100mph and killing at least three people.
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An escalating loss adjuster shortage following the wave of recent catastrophes is further inflating claims costs and adding to post-event loss amplification.
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As reinsurers continue to put out provisional loss estimates for Q3 cats, there is a growing recognition that 1 January will bring about a hardening in the US property treaty sector that could spread to other lines.
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Aspen's Q3 pre-tax cat loss disclosure has come in far lower than expected, despite "considerable trepidation" on the size of the loss, equity analysts at Buckingham Research Group have said.
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The wildfires that have ravaged affluent parts of California’s wine region are expected to take a toll on carriers writing high net worth (HNW) and winery business.
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Argo estimated pre-tax losses of $85mn to $110mn for third-quarter catastrophes net of reinsurance recoveries, reinstatement costs and expected premiums.
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Flights and ferry crossings have been cancelled as Ireland and parts of the UK prepare for ex-Hurricane Ophelia.
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Rated Caribbean and Puerto Rico insurers’ estimated hurricane losses will not breach their net catastrophe reinsurance limits, and therefore credit rating actions regarding the companies are unlikely, AM Best has determined.
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Aspen anticipates booking $360mn in pre-tax catastrophe losses for the third quarter, including the three major hurricanes that affected the US and Caribbean as well as other events, and said it expects to report a $340mn underwriting loss for the period.
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S&P has changed its view of pricing on 1 January renewals and now predicts flat to 5 percent increases for global reinsurance, reflecting the impact of third quarter catastrophes expected to result in insured losses of more than $100bn.
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Argo Group has hired David Higley, most recently head of marine and livestock for The Hartford, to lead its newly formed US property unit.
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The Lloyd's market has now paid out $738mn in claims from hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, the Corporation said.
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After years in the soft market doldrums underwriters are beginning to walk with a slight spring in their step
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