Reinsurance 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.
22nd December 2020
As Covid-19 losses continue to bite, New Dawn Risk’s senior treaty broker Rachel Cohen expects to see casualty treaties in 2021 impacted by an accelerating hardening of reinsurance rates, restricted terms and conditions and reduced capacity. While there are already several US D&O class actions related to Covid-19, liability claims are ... Read the full article
21st December 2020
Data from financial services advisory PeriStrat shows that total tracked public loss estimates from re/insurers are now approaching the low-end of market loss estimates, which range from $30 billion to $80 billion. PeriStrat believes that reported losses now amount to $29.5 billion, and warned that Q4 financial reporting will probably reveal ... Read the full article
21st December 2020
A Covid-related business interruption court case victory has prompted Australian primary insurer Suncorp to underline its belief that overall reserving for the pandemic continues to be adequate. The federal court of Australia ruled in favour of Suncorp, via its Vero Insurance subsidiary, on a BI claim that had been denied on ... Read the full article
18th December 2020
Covid, the Financial Conduct Authority’s pricing review and climate-related strategies are set to define the re/insurance sector in 2021, according to analysts at professional services firm EY. Rodney Bonnard, EY's head of insurance in the UK, said the pricing review will have a big cost implication for the sector as many insurers ... Read the full article
18th December 2020
Moody’s has said that prolonged low interest rates and the economic shock from the COVID-19 pandemic underpin its negative outlook on the European insurance sector. Interest rates have declined further in 2020 and Moody's expects them to remain low for some time to come. Low rates will reduce P&C insurers' investment income ... Read the full article
15th December 2020
AM Best has assigned a negative market segment outlook to the US commercial property insurance segment, citing uncertainty over Covid-related business interruption (BI) legislation and increasing frequency and severity of natural catastrophes. While AM Best does not expect significant claims activity in commercial property due to the pandemic, it does foresee ... Read the full article
15th December 2020
Lloyd’s of London has partnered with supply chain data platform Parsyl to launch an insurance initiative for the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. The public-private collaboration includes 14 global re/insurers and aims to address critical risks faced by COVID-19 vaccines and other health commodities during distribution. The initiative involves the launch of a ... Read the full article
11th December 2020
A new report from Willis Re, the reinsurance arm of global brokerage Willis Towers Watson, estimates that reinsurers globally have raised $6 billion across the fourth quarter of 2020. This figure would bring the year-to-date total to $19 billion, with a further $3b being contemplated and/or in progress. Willis Re attributes these ... Read the full article
10th December 2020
Whilst some in the (re)insurance industry are still reeling from the shock of COVID-19, start-up specialist (re)insurance broker McGill and Partners says a focus on technology and creativity has allowed it to adapt well to the pandemic. This is the view of Paul Summers, Head of Global Facultative Reinsurance, who in ... Read the full article
10th December 2020
New research released from government-backed reinsurer Flood Re shows an overwhelming majority of prospective home movers are backing the introduction of a Flood Performance Certificate. Much like an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), the Flood Performance Certificate would provide prospective buyers and renters with a clear overview of the flood risk posed ... Read the full article
9th December 2020
The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has announced its decision to contest a recent New South Wales Court of Appeal’s ruling that landed in favour of Covid-19-impacted businesses. The NSW Court of Appeal’s ruling could see insurers unable to deny claims from policyholders whose business interuption cover included an outdated ... Read the full article
9th December 2020
Global reinsurer Swiss Re expects social inflation to continue pushing up loss costs in US excess liability and reinsurance. Analysts note how social inflation has spread across commercial casualty lines in recent years due to non-economic drivers that include the trial bar's use of psychology-based strategies, litigation funding and inequality. The effects ... Read the full article
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
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
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
