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“Severe and unusual” cat events drive FedNat Q2 underwriting loss
7th August 2019
Florida-based FedNat Holding Company has posted a combined ratio of 101.5% for the second quarter of 2019, up from 99% in Q2 2018, as hail and wind related storms from twelve catastrophe events hit the states it writes property business. Overall, losses and loss adjustment expenses in Q2 increased $17.7 million, ... Read the full article
National General acquires QBE North America’s National Farmers Union
5th August 2019
National General Holdings Corp. has completed its previously announced acquisition of National Farmers Union Property and Casualty Company (National Farmers Union Insurance) from QBE North America. The purchase price for this deal was $52.8 million subject to customary post-closing adjustments. The firm explains that the change in the closing purchase price ... Read the full article
Universal’s income down 17% in Q2, as loss ratio climbs
1st August 2019
Florida-based property and casualty insurer Universal Insurance has released its results for the first half of 2019, reporting a 16.8% decrease in income before taxes. Income slipped by $10.3 million to $50.9 million in Q2 2019, compared with $61.2 million for the same period in the previous year. Looking at the first ... Read the full article
Re/insurance to cover less than 20% of $200m Ridgecrest quake loss: KCC
24th July 2019
The Magnitude 7.1 earthquake that impacted the towns of Ridgecrest, Argus, and Trona in the U.S. state of California in early July, is expected to result in overall damages of around $200 million, with the insured loss likely to be less than $40 million, according to Karen Clark & Company ... Read the full article
False earthquake policy info prompts California regulators to notify insurers
12th July 2019
California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara and the California Earthquake Authority (CEA) are to send a notice to re/insurers following reports that some companies may be declining to write earthquake policies in the state. Kern County in southern California was struck by a magnitude 6.4 earthquake on July 4, followed by a ... Read the full article
Flood Re lays out new flood resilience proposals for UK homes
8th July 2019
Government-backed reinsurance scheme Flood Re has announced a series of proposals designed to increase the flood resilience of UK homes. Flood Re hopes to work with insurers on “building back better homes” after a flood event and would permit the payment of claims to include an additional amount for certain repairs ... Read the full article
Cali quake losses expected to be insignificant, damage less than initially feared
8th July 2019
Analysts at Credit Suisse expect the insurance industry loss from the recent earthquakes that struck Southern California to be less than $500 million, with emergency officials reportedly stating that the damage is less considerable than initially feared. The Ridgecrest City area of the state was hit by a magnitude 6.4 quake ... Read the full article
Fednat grows catastrophe reinsurance program at July renewals
2nd July 2019
Florida-based FedNat Holding Company has announced the renewal of its catastrophe reinsurance program for 2019-2020, which includes a slight increase to its aggregate limit. The aggregate reinsurance limit was increased from $1.79 billion to $1.84 billion at the July 1 renewals, FedNat reported. At the same time, the aggregate private market limit ... Read the full article
FedNat adds Mel Russell as VP of Monarch
28th June 2019
Florida-based FedNat Holding Company has appointed Mel Russell as Vice President of its subsidiary Monarch National Insurance, effective immediately. Russell will oversee the relaunch of Monach’s homeowner and condo programs in Florida, and report directly to Michael Braun, FedNat’s President and Chief Executive Officer. Since 2016, Russell has served as President and CEO ... Read the full article
Analysts highlight uncertainty around FedNat’s Maison deal & off-cycle renewal
19th June 2019
Analysts at JMP remain confident in the prospects of FedNat Holding Company, but have said that some uncertainty exists around the company's "slightly off-cycle" reinsurance renewal and the potential delay of its acquisition of Maison Insurance, the homeowners insurance operations of 1347 Property Insurance Holdings. JMP met with FedNat management ... Read the full article
Insurers FHCF reimbursement raised as Florida Governor approves bill
19th June 2019
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has signed into law bill HB 301, part of which doubles the reimbursement rate insurance companies can receive from the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund (FHCF). The Florida House of Representatives passed the legislation in April 2019, at the same time as it passed a bill targeting assignment ... Read the full article
Citizens to cap Florida rate increases at 4.7% following AOB reforms
19th June 2019
Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, the Florida state-run insurer, is seeking approval from its Board to cap its average premium rate increases at 4.7% following recent legislation designed to curtail assignment of benefits (AOB) abuse. If approved, the revised rate increases would be limited to nearly half the original 8.2% hikes ... Read the full article
AmWINS’ Unicorn MGA names Matt Edwards lead underwriter, property specialty
13th June 2019
Unicorn Underwriting, the specialist managing general agent (MGA) of AmWINS Group, Inc. has appointed Matt Edwards as lead underwriter, property specialty, effective June 17th, 2019. In his new role, Edwards will report to Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Unicorn and CEO of re/insurance broker THB Group, Frank Murphy. As lead underwriter of ... Read the full article
New Zealand’s Earthquake Commission increases reinsurance cover to $6.2bn
4th June 2019
The Earthquake Commission (EQC) of New Zealand has increased its reinsurance coverage at the June 1 renewals, securing NZ $6.2 billion (US $4.1 billion) of protection for the next 12 months, according to reports from Stuff. The reinsurance will cover disaster events such as earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions. Last year, the ... Read the full article
P&C insurers positioned well as Atlantic hurricane season gets underway: Fitch
3rd June 2019
Despite significantly elevated levels of catastrophe losses in both 2017 and 2018, analysts at Fitch Ratings state that increased policyholders' surplus during this period supports its view that U.S. property and casualty (P&C) insurers are well placed to manage a significant landfalling storm. The 2019 Atlantic hurricane season officially started on ... Read the full article