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.
The ICA launches BI test case in NSW Supreme Court
13th August 2020
The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) is set to test the application of certain infectious diseases exclusions in business interruption policies with the commencement of proceedings in the NSW Supreme Court. The test case consists of two separate small business claims that were lodged with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) as ... Read the full article
Zurich’s BOP falls 40% in H1 on COVID-19 and elevated cat losses
13th August 2020
Global insurer Zurich has announced a 40% dip in business operating profit (BOP) for the first half of the year to $1.7 billion, driven mostly by an impact of $686 million related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. As well as the decline in BOP, Zurich has today reported a 42% contraction ... Read the full article
P&C surplus drops $75.9bn on Q1 stock market downturn: Verisk
12th August 2020
The surplus for the private US property and casualty (P&C) re/insurance industry dropped by $75.9 billion in the first quarter of 2020 as the stock market suffered a major down. This is according to data analytics provider Verisk, who said the drop was the largest ever quarterly decline for the market. Since ... Read the full article
Talanx takes substantial H1 income hit off COVID-19
12th August 2020
The Talanx Group has posted a net income of €325 million for the first half of 2020, substantially impacted from COVID-19. Excluding the effects of the coronavirus, Talanx net income would in fact have been up substantially year-on-year, at €603 million. Gross written premiums rose by 5.5 percent in the first half ... Read the full article
RGA reduces COVID-19 mortality claims estimate by $200mn
12th August 2020
Life reinsurer Reinsurance Group of America, Incorporated (RGA) has decreased its estimate of extra pre-tax mortality claim costs for the COVID-19 pandemic by approximately $200 million. In Q1, RGA provided an illustration of the potential impact of the pandemic on global mortality claims, based on a scenario that included 100,000 deaths ... Read the full article
Lloyd’s selects ten insurtechs for cohort focused on COVID-19 risks
11th August 2020
Specialist insurance and reinsurance market Lloyd’s has announced its new cohort of InsurTech disruptors that will join the Lloyd’s Lab innovation accelerator programme. The ten successful teams were selected after presenting their ideas in a competitive process during a virtual pitch day on 29 July 2020. This is the second completely virtual ... Read the full article
Courts rule insurers not responsible for COVID-19 BI losses
11th August 2020
American multinational investment bank, Morgan Stanley (MS), has commented on a decision made by the Superior Court of D.C. which finds that the COVID-19 pandemic does not cause direct physical damage which would be a required trigger for business interruption (BI). According to MS, this ruling offers further support for its ... Read the full article
Berkshire Hathaway P&C reinsurance loss driven by Covid-19 & prior year liabilities
9th August 2020
Berkshire Hathaway reported a significant level of losses within its property and casualty reinsurance business for the second-quarter of 2020, as the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and negative prior year reserve development on longer-tailed liabilities drove the division to a loss for the period. Overall, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway reported ... Read the full article
Reinsurers to absorb £276mn of Aviva’s COVID-19 losses
7th August 2020
Alongside the release of its H1 results, UK insurer Aviva has reported that its reinsurance program is set to absorb £276 million of its COVID-19 losses. Aviva said that the impact of the pandemic on incurred claims losses is estimated at £441 million, or £165 million net of reinsurance. Overall, the company ... Read the full article
Intangible assets a “major blind spot” amid COVID-19: Lloyd’s & KPMG
6th August 2020
The acceleration of digital business models, amplified by COVID-19, could lead to intangible assets becoming a “major blind spot” for companies not factoring them into their risk models. This is according to a new report published by Lloyd’s and KPMG, which urges businesses to pay attention to the new risk landscape ... Read the full article
Liberty Mutual’s Q2 result hit by elevated cats & significant COVID-19 losses
6th August 2020
Liberty Mutual Holding Company Inc. has recorded a net loss of $320 million for the second-quarter of 2020 amid elevated catastrophe losses and significant impacts from the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. All in all, Liberty Mutual's catastrophe losses jumped by a substantial $384 million from the second-quarter of 2019 to $878 million, ... Read the full article
United (UPC Insurance) returns to profit in Q2; COVID-19 impact immaterial
6th August 2020
Property and casualty (P&C) insurance holding company, United Insurance Holdings Corp. (UPC Insurance), has returned to profitability in the second-quarter of 2020, posting net income of $24.3 million and a combined ratio of 99.4%. These figures compare with a net loss of $2.9 million in the second-quarter of 2019 and a ... Read the full article
AXA’s underlying earnings fall to €1.9bn amid 72% decline in P&C on COVID-19
6th August 2020
Global insurer and reinsurer AXA has reported a 48% decrease in underlying earnings to €1.9 billion for the first half of 2020, driven mostly by a 72% decline in property and casualty (P&C) business primarily as a result of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The French re/insurer has reaffirmed its ... Read the full article
Everest Re’s combined ratio deteriorates to 97.5% in Q2
6th August 2020
Bermuda-based reinsurer Everest Re Group, Ltd. has reported underwriting income of $50.9 million for the second-quarter of 2020, despite incurring $160 million in net pre-tax losses related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The reinsurer says that its underwriting result highlights the underlying strength and sustainable profitability of the franchise. Underwriting income of ... Read the full article
Munich Re adds €700m of COVID-19 losses in Q2 as profit falls to €579m
6th August 2020
Global reinsurance giant Munich Re added roughly €700 million of COVID-19-related losses in the second-quarter of 2020, contributing to a decline in profit for the quarter to €579 million, compared with €993 million a year earlier. The additional €700 million of COVID-19 losses takes the reinsurer's H1 2020 impact from ... Read the full article
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