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.
COVID-19 to wipe £3tn from global trade: Russell Group
10th July 2020
Covid-19 will wipe $3 trillion from global trade in 2020 compared with 2019 levels, according to analysis conducted by Russell Group. Based on shipping and aircraft movements, the risk management company predicts trade to be $7.45 trillion in the first half of 2020 and $8.55 trillion in the remaining six months ... Read the full article
India’s insurance regulator (IRDAI) is exploring a pandemic risk pool
10th July 2020
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has established a nine-member working group to explore the possibility of establishing a pandemic risk pool. India is the latest country to reveal that it's exploring the launch of a pandemic risk pool to manage the risks related to reduced economic activity ... Read the full article
Chubb proposes $1.15tn state-backed pandemic BI scheme
9th July 2020
Global insurer and reinsurer Chubb has put forward a proposal for a public-private partnership program to provide business interruption (BI) cover for all kinds of US business ahead of the next pandemic. The company envisions the scheme’s total capacity at around $1.15 trillion, consisting of an aggregate limit of $750 billion ... Read the full article
Global insurance premiums to recover in 2021 after COVID-19-induced dip: Swiss Re
9th July 2020
Global insurance premiums are expected to recover in 2021 after contracting this year on the back of a COVID-19-induced economic recession, according to the latest Swiss Re Institute sigma report. While expected to be short-lived, Swiss Re warns that this year's recession is set to be the deepest since the Great ... Read the full article
Bank of England voices concern over virus BI claims
8th July 2020
Anna Sweeney, the Bank of England’s (BoE) executive director for insurance, has said that business interruption (BI) related to the COVID-19 pandemic claims remain a serious concern for the UK insurance and reinsurance industries. Her comments come as the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) prepares to seek legal clarity on whether ... Read the full article
Cape Town restaurant wins COVID-19 BI claims court battle against insurer
8th July 2020
Café Chameleon, a restaurant in the northern suburbs of Cape Town, recently won an important COVID-19-related insurance claims court battle against insurer Guardrisk Insurance, a division of Momentum Metropolitan Holdings. To mitigate the spread of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, South Africa, like many other countries around the world, entered into a ... Read the full article
Argo expecting $10-20mn Q2 virus loss
8th July 2020
Argo Group International Holdings, Ltd., the Bermuda based insurance and reinsurance company, has said that it is anticipating net losses of between $10 million and $20 million related to COVID-19 to be recorded in its second quarter earnings. The company fell to a net loss of $18.8 million in Q1 ... Read the full article
Workers’ comp insurers hit by high unemployment: Moody’s
8th July 2020
A surge in unemployment rates due to the COVID-19 lockdown is set to weigh heavily on the profitability of workers’ compensation insurers in the US, according to analysts at Moody’s. The rating agency noted that the workers’ compensation sector is structurally tied to the economy and labour markets. Employers in the US ... Read the full article
The Hartford extends COVID-19 personal auto payback plan
8th July 2020
Property and casualty insurer The Hartford has announced that it will extend its COVID-19 personal auto payback plan through June. The plan originally provided customers with a 15% credit on their April and May personal auto insurance premiums. Extending the plan through June brings the total amount the company will distribute to ... Read the full article
COVID-19 to compound Florida property insurers’ woes: AM Best
7th July 2020
The numerous headwinds in Florida's property insurance market have become more complex amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report by AM Best. Challenges such as higher reinsurance pricing and social inflation continue to challenge the financial strength of Florida's personal property writers and impact coverage availability and affordability in the ... Read the full article
Chubb reports Q2 cat losses of $1.8bn; COVID-19 hit of $1.37bn
7th July 2020
Global insurer and reinsurer Chubb has announced that the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, combined with severe weather-related events and civil unrest in the U.S., has resulted in global net catastrophe losses of $1.807 billion (pre-tax) for the second-quarter of 2020. Chubb reveals that its Q2 catastrophe loss estimates include COVID-19 ... Read the full article
COVID-19 a threat to insurers positive momentum: OECD
6th July 2020
Analysis by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) warns that positive premium and investment income growth in 2019 for the majority of insurers might not be maintained in 2020 as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. For the majority of countries, gross written premiums increased in 2019, most ... Read the full article
Lloyd’s Lab adds three start-ups to COVID-19 program
6th July 2020
Insurance and reinsurance marketplace Lloyd’s of London has started working with three new insurtech start-ups to help the market respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of a package of measures to respond to the crisis, Lloyd’s has expanded the scope for new applicants to the Lloyd’s Lab innovation accelerator. The ... Read the full article
Airmic endorses Lloyd’s pandemic recovery solutions
3rd July 2020
Airmic, the UK association for risk and insurance professionals, has welcomed Lloyd’s proposals for how the insurance industry can support global economic and societal recovery from the impacts of COVID-19. Earlier this week, Lloyd’s laid out three open source frameworks designed to fast-track global economic and societal recovery from COVID-19, ... Read the full article
Stock market volatility still biggest challenge for Japan re/insurers: AM Best
3rd July 2020
COVID-19 induced volatility in the stock market continues to pose the biggest challenge to the balance sheets of Japan’s major non-life re/insurers, according to analysts at AM Best. The rating agency noted that high common stock leverage among each of Japan’s re/insurers has brought systematic equity price risk into greater consideration. The ... Read the full article