Global insurance and reinsurance firm Chubb has estimated its fourth-quarter 2017 catastrophe losses at $320 million before tax, with $280 million of the loss attributable to the recent California wildfires.
After tax the total Q4 catastrophe loss comes down to $249 million, $215 million of which is from the wildfires.
The difference is made up of $40 million of pre-tax losses from other catastrophe events that hit the re/insurer during the quarter, or $34 million after tax.
Chubb said that its fourth-quarter and California wildfires loss estimates come from its commercial and personal property and casualty insurance businesses, plus its reinsurance operations, and are net of reinsurance, including reinstatement premiums.
The fourth-quarter losses come on the heels of major third-quarter catastrophe losses, thanks to the recent hurricane and earthquake events.
Chubb most recently estimated that hurricane Maria would cost the company up to $220 million in pre-tax losses, the two Mexico earthquakes were estimated at $25 million and the re/insurer also estimated pre-tax losses of $1.6 billion for hurricanes Harvey and Irma.
At its third-quarter results, Chubb revealed finalised estimates for catastrophe losses during that quarter of $1.893 billion.
So adding the quarters together, the second half of 2017 looks set to cause Chubb around a $2.213 billion catastrophe loss, before tax and net of reinsurance, a number which could increase if the wildfire loss estimate worsens.
This is a considerable hit, but as a major company with robust reinsurance arrangements in place, the gross loss will have been considerably higher and its reinsurance provisions will have helped Chubb to manage the aggregation of these major loss events.
