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.
Swiss Re predicts strong 5.8% global GDP growth in 2021
14th July 2021
Swiss Re is expecting a strong global economic recovery from COVID-19 to result in historically high global gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 5.8% in 2021. Global insurance premiums are set to follow this strong growth, increasing by an expected 3.3% in 2021 to a total of $6.9 trillion. The report ... Read the full article
Aon sees signs of stabilisation for Canada’s insurance market
14th July 2021
Despite the uncertain post-pandemic landscape that awaits Canada’s insurance market, Aon has underlined what it considers to be signs of market stabilisation and says insurers are beginning to position themselves for growth and profitability. Aon’s report describes many of 2020’s challenges as having spilled over into 2021; notably, poor underwriting performance ... Read the full article
Cyber market GWP to hit $20.6bn by 2025, says GlobalData
13th July 2021
GlobalData analysis suggests the global cyber insurance market is set to thrive post-Covid and reach $20.6 billion in Gross Written Premium (GWP) by 2025. The cyber market is already reported to have hit the $7 billion GWP mark, as the COVID-19 pandemic forced businesses to digitise processes and adopt remote working ... Read the full article
Olympics crowd ban could cost reinsurers up to $400m: Fitch
12th July 2021
Japan’s decision to bar spectators from the Tokyo Olympics is likely to cost the global reinsurance sector between $300 million and $400 million due to payouts for ticket and hospitality refunds, according to Fitch Ratings. However, the rating agency notes that this total is only 10%–15% of the amount reinsurers would ... Read the full article
Aviation claims edging closer to normal as Covid loosens grip, says Allianz
7th July 2021
Inspired by an inevitable surge in domestic travel following the decline of COVID-19’s disruptive influence, global insurer Allianz has categorised the aviation industry as one largely on the rebound. However, as a rising number of aircraft return to the skies, Allianz' report highlights a number of potential challenges, including “rusty” pilots ... Read the full article
UPC Insurance estimates $40mn Q2 cat loss
5th July 2021
Property and casualty holding company UPC Insurance incurred around $40 million in pre-tax natural catastrophe losses during the second quarter of 2021, approximately $31 million after tax. The company’s estimated catastrophe losses includes claims from two new tropical storms and fourteen new PCS catastrophe events that occurred during the second ... Read the full article
Insurer reputation in decline since COVID-19, GlobalData poll finds
2nd July 2021
A recent poll conducted by data and analytics company GlobalData shows a decline in the insurance industry’s reputation globally, resulting largely from its response to the COVID-19 pandemic. A third of respondents felt that their opinions on global insurers had substantially worsened because of the pandemic. Overall, a total of 41% felt ... Read the full article
UK players reported highest top-line decline in 2020, says GlobalData
2nd July 2021
The top 20 global public insurance companies reported aggregate revenue of $1,923.9 billion in 2020, a year-over-year decline of around 5%, according to data and analytics firm GlobalData. 11 firms reported a drop in revenue and the most notable were UK-based insurers Prudential, Aviva and Legal & General. Most of the top ... Read the full article
Pandemic class actions filed against Lloyd’s and QBE
1st July 2021
Law firm Gordon Legal has initiated a Federal Court case against underwriters at Lloyd’s of London and filed a class action lawsuit against QBE in Australia over business interruption (BI) claims related to the pandemic, according to reports from the Australian Financial Review. Gordon Legal says the cases relate to claims ... Read the full article
Hiscox reaches settlement with BI action group
28th June 2021
Specialist global insurer Hiscox has reached a settlement with members of the Hiscox Action Group (HAG) over business interruption (BI) losses suffered due to government lockdowns following the outbreak of COVID-19. Terms of the settlement remain confidential, but HAG had originally been targeting a £40 million payout from Hiscox, after ... Read the full article
ICA’s COVID-19 BI test case appeal rejected
28th June 2021
Australian insurer Suncorp says special leave to appeal will not be granted for the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) first industry test case. This test case relates to the application of the Quarantine Act exclusion to Business Interruption (BI) policies. The High Court of Australia’s decision upholds the NSW Court of Appeal’s ... Read the full article
Pandemic BI dispute exposes insurer expectation mismatch: Moody’s
28th June 2021
Recent disputes between insurers and policyholders over the scope of coronavirus-related business interruption (BI) policies have highlighted the dangers of a mismatch between insurers' expectations and those of their customers, says Moody’s. The rating agency is predicting that EMEA insurers will need to focus on product innovation and risk prevention in ... Read the full article
ICA denied special leave to appeal COVID-19 BI ruling
25th June 2021
The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has acknowledged the High Court’s decision to deny special leave to appeal the NSW Court of Appeal’s judgment regarding its interpretation of pandemic exclusions in some business interruption policies. Its decision to contest the ruling that landed in favour of Covid-19-impacted businesses was first ... Read the full article
UK the most attractive spot in Europe for financial services investors, says EY
21st June 2021
The UK remains Europe’s most attractive destination for foreign investors in the financial services, according to a new EY survey. With 56 projects in 2020, the UK edged out France to the top spot, who managed 49. In contrast to the overall European trend of falling financial services FDI projects, France saw ... Read the full article
Global macroeconomic resilience cut by 18% by COVID-19: Swiss Re
15th June 2021
COVID-19’s emergence in 2020 caused macroeconomic resilience to fall by 18%, according to a Swiss Re Institute report. While global economic growth is expected to recover strongly this year after the pandemic-induced recession in 2020, the resulting macroeconomic resilience will fall short of levels seen pre-COVID-19. Meanwhile, the global insurance protection gap reached ... Read the full article
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