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.
Lloyd’s forecasts $107bn Covid-19 industry loss for 2020
14th May 2020
The Lloyd's insurance and reinsurance marketplace says that it will pay customers between $3 billion and $4.3 billion in claims due to Covid-19, but the industry was a whole is forecast to suffer $107 billion of losses in 2020 alone. The industry loss forecast or estimate from Lloyd's of London is ... Read the full article
Industry consensus on COVID-19 loss range is $30-100bn: Willis Re
13th May 2020
The early consensus among analysts is that COVID-19 industry losses will be somewhere in the range of $30 billion to $100 billion, according to Willis Re, the reinsurance broking arm of Willis Towers Watson (WTW). This rough consensus is broadly consistent with estimates released by WTW earlier this month, which put ... Read the full article
Pandemic risk coverage should reflect existing federal programs, say actuaries
13th May 2020
Coverage for business interruption (BI) risks due to pandemics should be designed to reflect existing federal insurance programs such as Terrorism Risk Insurance Program and the National Flood Insurance Program, according to the American Academy of Actuaries. The Academy wrote to the US House Committee in a recent letter explaining that ... Read the full article
Markel sees increased reinsurance pricing & demand for the foreseeable future: Co-CEO Whitt
13th May 2020
With insurers facing diminishing levels of capital amid the economic fallout from the ongoing COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, executives at Markel Corporation are anticipating heightened demand for reinsurance protection and increased pricing for the foreseeable future. Unsurprisingly, first-quarter 2020 results announcements from insurers and reinsurers have largely focused on the current crisis. So ... Read the full article
ABI approves UK Gov trade credit reinsurance backstop
13th May 2020
Industry body the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has voiced its support for the UK Government’s now confirmed scheme to provide a reinsurance backstop for trade credit insurers. Economic Secretary to the Treasury, John Glen, announced today that the Government would move ahead with the scheme following several weeks of ... Read the full article
Covéa’s acquisition of PartnerRe from EXOR called off
13th May 2020
The acquisition of global reinsurer PartnerRe by French insurer Covéa has been abruptly called off, after owner EXOR declined to renegotiate the price in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. Covéa had sought a renegotiation of the acquisition price for PartnerRe in the wake of the pandemic, but EXOR believes that ... Read the full article
U.S. P/C insurance industry’s net income up 3% in 2019: Verisk, APCIA
12th May 2020
The net income for the private U.S. property/casualty insurance sector increased by 3% in 2019 to $61.4 billion as the industry's combined ratio improved to 98.9%, according to analysis by Verisk and the American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA). Analysis of the sector through 2019 shows that U.S. P/C insurers experienced ... Read the full article
US Treasury opposes retroactive BI legislation
12th May 2020
The US Treasury Department has penned a letter to lawmakers voicing its opposition to legislation that would force insurers to retroactively cover business interruption (BI) claims connected to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the letter, Treasury Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Frederick Vaughan criticised bills introduced by several states that aim to make ... Read the full article
Global organisations reiterate potential harm of forced COVID-19 BI coverage
12th May 2020
As more and more international organisations underscore the potential negative ramifications of forcing insurers to retroactively cover COVID-19 related business interruption (BI) claims, the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA), David Sampson, has again highlighted the importance of stability in the marketplace. As ... Read the full article
EU regulator says governments must insure future lockdowns
12th May 2020
The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has said that national governments must help to provide pandemic business cover in future lockdowns, according to reports from Reuters. EIOPA Chair Gabriel Bernardino told the publication that the private sector does not have the capacity to provide such broad coverage alone. Bernardino also ... Read the full article
AFG announces $301mn Q1 net loss amid financial market turmoil
12th May 2020
American Financial Group, Inc. (AFG) has reported a net loss of $301 million for the first-quarter of 2020, driven by the adverse impacts of after-tax non-core items aggregating $472 million. The company's Q1 2020 net loss compares with net earnings of $329 million in the prior year first-quarter, and reflects widespread ... Read the full article
Allianz’ Q1 net income falls 29% off COVID-19 P&C impacts
12th May 2020
Global insurer Allianz saw its net income fall 28.9% to €1.4 billion in the first quarter, driven primarily by the impact of coronavirus on its property and casualty segment. Higher claims from natural catastrophes, as well as coronavirus-related losses, drove P&C operating profit down 29.1% to €1 billion against the prior ... Read the full article
Fitch upgrades Hiscox outlook after capital raise
12th May 2020
Fitch Ratings has revised the outlook on Hiscox and its core entities to stable from negative to reflect the company’s recent £375 million capital raise. Hiscox completed the capital raise last week through the issuance of 57,693,425 new Ordinary Shares. The proceeds will be used to “to respond to future ... Read the full article
Commercial insurance pricing up 14%, COVID-19 impact insignificant: Marsh
12th May 2020
Global commercial insurance pricing increased for the tenth consecutive quarter in the opening three months of 2020, while the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on pricing dynamics proved to be insignificant, reports re/insurance broker Marsh. In the first-quarter of 2020, global commercial insurance pricing rose 14% on the back of ... Read the full article
Pool Re report highlights COVID-19’s global impact on terrorism
12th May 2020
A new report from Andrew Silke, a Professor for Pool Re and Cranfield University, has highlighted the ways in which the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting terrorism around the world. There are currently mixed opinions on the pandemic's short-term impact on the level of attacks in the short-term. It's understood that lockdown measures ... Read the full article