Reinsurance News
Coronavirus news
Coronavirus news coverage of relevance to reinsurance and insurance markets.
All of our Covid-19 coronavirus news, analysis and insight related to insurance and reinsurance market impacts can be found below.
The coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic of 2019-20 resulted in significant disruption and threatened losses widely across the insurance and reinsurance markets.
Chinese insurers pulling back on Covid cover as restrictions lowered
16th December 2022
Chinese insurers are withdrawing coronavirus policies from sale as they try to avoid huge payouts amid a nationwide surge of cases following the relaxation of Covid restrictions in the country. According to online news platform Quartz, Chinese media has reported that numerous low-cost coronavirus policies that were popular among consumers are ... Read the full article
To make the world more resilient, re/insurers must be resilient: Ojeisekhoba, Swiss Re
13th December 2022
As the global reinsurance industry looks ahead to 2023, writing in this op-ed, Swiss Re's Moses Ojeisekhoba, Chief Executive Officer - Reinsurance, explains the need to reshape the risk industry, in order to boost resilience in an increasingly volatile world. The extraordinary natural and human forces shaping our planet were on ... Read the full article
MS Amlin wins COVID BI dispute with UK pub group
17th October 2022
Lloyd’s re/insurer MS Amlin Underwriting Limited (MS AUL) has announced that the court has sided with it in the outcome of a legal dispute with UK pub group Stonegate regarding COVID business interruption claims. In June of this year, Stonegate moved to sue insurers MS Amlin, Zurich Insurance and Liberty ... Read the full article
IAG and Suncorp lower BI reserve provisions after court ruling
17th October 2022
Australian insurers IAG and Suncorp have both announced that they have lowered their COVID business interruption (BI) reserve provisions after a recent court ruling on the issue. Last week, the High Court of Australia opted to deny special leave to appeal the judgment of earlier verdicts by the Federal Court ... Read the full article
Australia declines special leave applications in BI test case
14th October 2022
The High Court of Australia has decided to deny special leave to appeal the judgment of earlier verdicts by the Federal Court regarding the interpretation of policy wordings in business interruption policies that could apply to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Full Court of the Federal Court delivered its judgment back in ... Read the full article
COVID still accounting for half of excess deaths in Australia
10th October 2022
COVID-19 is still accounting for half of all excess deaths through H1 2022, according to the Actuaries Institute of Australia, reflecting the continued risk for insurance and reinsurance firms with exposure in this market. Actuaries Institute data shows that excess mortality in Australia for the first six months of 2022 was ... Read the full article
FCA raises concerns over COVID BI claims handling
6th October 2022
UK regulator the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has undertaken a review of the claims handling process for business interruption claims related to COVID-19, and has raised concerns in some areas. Overall, the FCA concluded that insurers paid out interim payments and reallocated resources quickly, while proactively communicating with policyholders to help ... Read the full article
Fitch highlights pandemic impact on reinsurance market throughout Asia
6th September 2022
According to analysts at Fitch, Thailand’s life industry has no exposure to lump-sum payout policies, and experienced stable operation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Analysts also noted that local life reinsurers remain profitable with a rise in COVID-19 related health claims partially offset by lower claims in other products. At the same time, ... Read the full article
Live events resurge in a new risk landscape after Covid restrictions ease
26th August 2022
The restarting of live events due to the lull in coronavirus restrictions poses a new risk landscape for organisers, according to Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS). The firm said in a statement that it was seeing increasing demand for live events following the end of lockdowns and restrictions. However, it said ... Read the full article
IAG shareholders serve class action over BI disclosure
1st August 2022
Insurance Australia Group Limited (IAG) has confirmed that it has been served with a shareholder representative proceeding over its disclosures regarding COVID business interruption (BI) claims. The company announced that the class action has been filed in the Supreme Court of Victoria on behalf of persons who acquired shares in IAG ... Read the full article
Munich Re’s COVID claims persisting beyond expectations: Jefferies
14th July 2022
Analysts at Jefferies have reported that Munich Re’s COVID-19 claims on the life reinsurance side of its business have lasted far longer than anticipated, contrary to the market’s initial views. At Munich Re's recent management meetings, a key discussion point was the ongoing impact of COVID claims to the reinsurer’s life ... Read the full article
UK pub group brings £1bn covid case against insurers
14th June 2022
UK pub group Stonegate is suing insurers MS Amlin, Zurich Insurance and Liberty Mutual for £1 billion in a new major COVID business interruption (BI) case. Reuters, which first covered the story, speculates that the Stonegate case, if successful, could provide momentum for a second wave of pandemic claims against insurers. The ... Read the full article
Covid cost coming into focus after two years, says JP Morgan
1st June 2022
JP Morgan has said that the companies most heavily impacted by the coronavirus pandemic were European reinsurers and Lloyd’s names. The assessment, done in relative terms, came as a surprise to JP Morgan, who said that tail risk generally accumulates at the reinsurers and that specialist classes of business are more ... Read the full article
UK Gov claims success over £400m live events reinsurance scheme
31st May 2022
The UK Government says that nearly three million people are expected to have attended events supported by the Government’s Live Events Reinsurance Scheme by the end of summer 2022. Launched in August 2021 and set to close this September, the scheme has supported almost 15,000 jobs and 150 events, including Wimbledon, ... Read the full article
RGA seeing greater demand for life reinsurance since pandemic
18th May 2022
Anna Manning, President and CEO of Reinsurance Group of America (RGA), has said that her company has seen higher demand for its life reinsurance service since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic two years ago. Speaking as part of an earnings call alongside the release of RGA’s Q1 results, Manning was ... Read the full article