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.
20th July 2020
Hannover Re CEO Jean-Jacques Henchoz has warned that the re/insurance industry does not possess the capital and should not be expected to shoulder a systemic global risk like the COVID-19 pandemic. “We cannot diversify it as a risk,” he told Swiss, German-language newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung. Henchoz explained that other approaches to ... Read the full article
17th July 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic is set to accelerate a “silent metamorphosis” that the re/insurance industry has been undergoing in recent years regarding its use of technology. This is according to Paul Donnelly, Executive Vice President for EMEA at Munich Re Automation Solutions, the specialist insurtech subsidiary of the global reinsurer. Speaking in an ... Read the full article
17th July 2020
Travel insurance provider Battleface has announced a new policy designed to cover medical expenses caused by or resulting from COVID-19. The cover, which is being offered from today for travellers up to and including age of 59, does not include cover in relation to COVID-19 expenses for trip cancellations, curtailment of a ... Read the full article
16th July 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic is set to have an adverse but manageable impact on the European re/insurance sector, according to analysts at Moody’s, who predict a drop in company earnings rather than capital erosion. "We see the industry as resilient overall, and believe it will be able to absorb the impact of ... Read the full article
16th July 2020
CNA Financial Corporation has announced that it expects to report a total catastrophe loss of $301 million pretax for the second quarter. Of that figure, $182 million is related to COVID-19, $61 million related to civil unrest and $58 million related primarily to severe weather-related events. The company says its Q2 COVID-19 ... Read the full article
15th July 2020
Coronavirus-driven market dislocation is creating attractive opportunities for insurers in some lines of business, according to AM Best. The ratings agency notes how a number of existing companies, including Beazley, Fidelis, Hiscox, Lancashire, QBE and Renaissance Re have all announced capital raising initiatives to bolster balance sheets in response to uncertainty, ... Read the full article
15th July 2020
Cincinnati Financial Corporation is expected to include pretax catastrophe losses of approximately $231 million in the second quarter, adding 16.5% to the quarterly combined ratio based on estimated property casualty earned premiums. Two multi-state storms in early April each caused approximately $50 million in losses, in addition to catastrophe losses from ... Read the full article
15th July 2020
Members of The American Property Casualty Insurance Association are to meet virtually with individuals from of the House Financial Services Committee over the next two weeks to advocate for the Business Continuity Protection Program. The BCPP is a customer-focused proposal for a federal program tailored specifically to help businesses meet the financial ... Read the full article
15th July 2020
Arch Capital Group Ltd. has announced estimated pre-tax net catastrophe losses of $205 million to $225 million across its property casualty insurance and reinsurance operations in the second-quarter of 2020. The Bermuda-based insurer and reinsurer's Q2 catastrophe loss range is net of reinsurance recoveries and reinstatement premiums, and includes the impacts ... Read the full article
14th July 2020
Analysts at S&P Global Ratings have warned that re/insurers' capital buffers could be eroded through the second half of the year if there is a second global wave of COVID-19. While its insurance ratings have proven resilient through the pandemic so far, the firm believes many companies will suffer from the ... Read the full article
14th July 2020
Property and casualty insurer, The Travelers Companies, Inc., expects to report a net loss for the second-quarter of 2020 on the back of a high level of catastrophe losses and losses in its non-fixed income investment portfolio. The firm's Q2 2020 catastrophe losses are estimated at $854 million pre-tax ($673 million ... Read the full article
14th July 2020
Independent film and television productions are struggling to secure financing as insurers increasingly refuse to accept risks associated with COVID-19, according to reports from Reuters. Outside of major studio productions, which have the resources to self-insure, uncertainty around coronavirus appears to have created a major roadblock in moving forward with productions. One ... Read the full article
13th July 2020
In order to address the significant insurance protection gap that has been highlighted by the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, parametric structures should be considered, according to GlobalData. As lockdown measures came into effect around the world, businesses of all shapes and sizes turned to their insurers for assistance through their business interruption ... Read the full article
13th July 2020
W. R. Berkley Corporation has revealed that it expects to incur net catastrophe losses of roughly $145 million (pre-tax) for the second-quarter of 2020, most of which is attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic. The firm estimates that approximately $85 million, or 59% of its Q2 loss estimate relates to the ongoing ... Read the full article
10th July 2020
Benefits for US commercial insurers from recent sharp premium rate improvement are likely to be delayed by effects on underwriting results from COVID-19, according to Fitch Ratings. The ratings agency says the sector was poised for 2020 profit improvement following two consecutive years of statutory industry commercial lines combined ratios slightly ... Read the full article
