Assurant, Inc. has posted catastrophe losses of between $82 million and $89 million pre-tax ($65-70 million after tax) for the third quarter of 2018, of which $16-19 million was due to loss creep from 2017’s Hurricane Maria.
The company said that the additional Q3 2018 losses for Hurricane Maria are above the per-event limit of $170 million for its 2017 Caribbean Catastrophe Reinsurance Tower.
The remaining $66-70 million of Assurant’s Q3 catastrophe losses related to claims from Hurricane Florence, which made landfall in the Carolinas on September 14.
Hurricane Florence losses were primarily driven by wind and flood damage for lender-placed and manufactured housing products in North and South Carolina, Assurant said.
It added that its Florence loss estimate was net of reinsurance and included $1-2 million of losses in Global Lifestyle related to its Global Automotive business.
Additionally, Assurant expects its Global Housing segment to incur losses of between $55 million and $85 million pre-tax for losses related to Hurricane Michael, which landfall in the Florida Panhandle on October 10.
This wide loss range reflects the variability of early loss projections and claims severity, particularly in high-damage regions, and the company said that it would release a refined range of estimated fourth quarter losses for Hurricane Michael in November.
Assurant’s Q3 catastrophe losses are at the lower end of the range posted by re/insurers so far, behind RenaissanceRe at $155 million, Cincinnati Financial at $120 million, Allstate at $177 million, and Everest Re at $240 million.
AIG have reported the highest losses so far, at between $1.5 billion and $1.7 billion, while Swiss Re came in at $1.4 billion, and Munich Re’s losses are rumoured to be high but within budget.
