September 2005/3

On the eve of the key Monte Carlo reinsurance Rendez-Vous event, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) again downgraded a troubled reinsurer below its pivotal ‘A-’ rating.

Swiss insurer Zurich Financial Services (ZFS) has released its preliminary estimates of losses resulting from the recent flooding in Switzerland, southern Germany and Austria.

As Monte Carlo gets underway, a consensus is beginning to emerge that Hurricane Katrina is an industry changing event, with profound implications for balance sheets, rates and capitalization.

As Insider Week goes to press, the picture on Hurricane Katrina loss estimates remains fluid, with (re)insurers beginning for the first time to revise initial estimates of the damage caused by windstorm, fire and flood.

Steps are already taken to ensure that the victims of Katrina have their property and healthcare claims promptly by insurers, according to Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Robert Wooley.

European reinsurance giants Swiss Re and Hannover Re have joined Munich Re in changing their estimates of insured losses resulting from Hurricane Katrina.

Joe Plumeri has called on the insurance industry to be heroic in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The Willis chairman and CEO was speaking at this year's PricewaterhouseCoopers Breakfast Briefing at the Reinsurance Rendezvous in Monte Carlo.

Munich Re chairman Nikolaus Von Bomhard yesterday confirmed that the company’s losses from Hurricane Katrina will be significantly greater than the figure it released on Tuesday 30 August – before the levees protecting stricken New Orleans failed.

AM Best questions European loss figures, S&P places 10 firms on ratings watch. As the world’s (re)insurers continue to assess the impact of Hurricane Katrina, the first revisions of early loss estimates are beginning to show through.