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.
Munich Re to halt event cancellation cover for pandemics
8th December 2020
Reinsurance giant Munich Re has confirmed that it will stop writing coverage for events cancelled due to pandemics. Munich Re unveiled its “Ambition 2025” growth and results targets earlier today, which include a targeted return on equity of 12-14% by 2025 and a combined ratio of approximately 95% in property ... Read the full article
Major League Baseball sues insurers over pandemic BI losses
8th December 2020
As the legal battles over the status of business interruption (BI) claims connected to the pandemic continue to play out, Major League Baseball (MLB) has announced that it intends to sue its insurance providers. The League and all 30 of its teams plan to file a lawsuit against their insurers over ... Read the full article
US P/C sector to improve throughout 2021: Fitch
8th December 2020
Despite ongoing losses related to the Covid-19 pandemic, Fitch Ratings says the US property/casualty (P/C) sector has stabilised with an improving outlook for 2021. Fitch Ratings analysts are anticipating higher underwriting income in 2021, with a statutory combined ratio below 97%. This would follow three consecutive years of approximately 99% combined ratios ... Read the full article
P&C firms covered cost of capital despite 2020 challenges: analysts
3rd December 2020
Despite 2020 having proved itself a challenging year to date for the re/insurance industry, analysts at investment banking firm Stonybrook Capital say most US property and casualty firms managed to cover their cost of capital. The S&P 500 returned 18.1% over the 12 months through November 13, while bonds did well. However, ... Read the full article
Historic cats, large pandemic losses dent NA P/C insurers in 9M20: Fitch
2nd December 2020
The high frequency of catastrophe events experienced in the U.S. through the third-quarter of 2020, coupled with a substantial level of additional losses related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, hindered the performance of North American (NA) property/casualty (P/C) re/insurers in 9M 2020, reports Fitch Ratings. Fitch's analysis looks at the 9M ... Read the full article
NY chain Century 21 sells rights to pandemic BI claims
2nd December 2020
Century 21, a New York based department store chain that recently filed for bankruptcy, has reportedly sold a stake in its legal battle for owed business interruption (BI) claims related to the pandemic. According to Bloomberg law, the embattled store has sold the rights to the $175 million of COVID-19 BI ... Read the full article
Re/insurers misjudged pandemic response: Swiss Re’s Mumenthaler
1st December 2020
According to Swiss Re CEO Christian Mumenthaler, the re/insurance industry vastly underestimated the cost of a global pandemic due to its failure to account for the extent of government lockdown measures. Speaking in an interview with the Financial Times, Mumenthaler acknowledged that re/insurer models had misjudged just how far governments around ... Read the full article
Munich Re adds €1.1bn of COVID-19 losses; 2020 total hits €3.4bn
1st December 2020
Global reinsurance giant Munich Re has reported that its reinsurance operation is set to book COVID-19 related losses of €3.4 billion in 2020, while additional burdens of roughly €500 million are anticipated to come from the pandemic in 2021. For Q3 2020, the reinsurer announced a further €800 million of ... Read the full article
Australian BI verdict to drive uncertainty for insurers: AM Best
30th November 2020
AM Best has warned that pandemic business interruption (BI) coverage will continue to represent a significant source of uncertainty for Australian commercial insurers following the verdict of legal test case in the country. The New South Wales Court of Appeal sided unanimously against the arguments made by insurers in its ruling. The ... Read the full article
HX’s Flandro underlines positive outlook despite difficult year
26th November 2020
With Covid-19 losses increasing sector risk premiums, the presence of higher rates across most lines is creating opportunities for margin expansion and driving a continuing inflow of new investment capital, according to David Flandro, Managing Director at HX Analytics. In a presentation given during the company's third quarter earnings update, Flandro ... Read the full article
Government can’t continue as “insurer of last resort”: CII
26th November 2020
A survey conducted by the Chartered Insurance Institute has found that 54% of its members do not feel it is economically sustainable for the government to “step in as an insurer of last resort.” The survey included 476 CII members and was conducted in October. “Ultimately, no government can save every business,” said ... Read the full article
Need for creativity high amid challenging investment landscape: Prospectus 2021
26th November 2020
Although news around a potential COVID-19 vaccine is a positive step, the investment landscape remains extremely challenging for global re/insurers and there's a continued need for creativity and innovation, according to industry experts. On day two of Prospectus 2021, the audience heard from three very experienced investors whose firms ... Read the full article
Broad optimism over second wave losses, reinsurers could take bigger hit
25th November 2020
Barclays analysts expect this second wave of COVID-19 to incur less cost for European insurers than what was initially seen during the first half of 2020. Analysts note how positive vaccine news, further political clarity in the US, stabilised yields and the latest COVID loss estimates create a positive backdrop for ... Read the full article
IAG completes $650mn institutional placement following BI hit
24th November 2020
IAG has successfully completed a $650 million fully underwritten institutional placement, as the company looks to compensate for an anticipated $865 million hit from pandemic-related business interruption claims. A NSW Court of Appeal ruled last week that insurers could not decline business interruption claims due to incorrectly worded exclusions for ... Read the full article
51 new Bermudian insurers registered in Oct, says PwC’s Wightman
24th November 2020
With the announcement that 51 new insurers were registered in Bermuda throughout October, PwC’s territory and insurance leader Arthur Wightman has released a statement praising the resilience of the island in 2020. Wightman said Bermuda has overseen the deployment of between $12 billion and $15 billion in new capital over the ... Read the full article