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 claims among ABI members reach £2.5bn
22nd February 2021
Members of the Association of British Insurers (ABI) expect to pay up to £2.5 billion for COVID-19 insurance claims incurred in 2020, according to new data. The majority of this figure (£2 billion) stems from business interruption claims, while another £204 million is attributed to protection insurance claims, including life, critical ... Read the full article
As the world reopens, event cancellation coverage will be an issue: Mumenthaler, Swiss Re
19th February 2021
The significant and unexpected impacts of the global COVID-19 pandemic on the property and casualty (P&C) space suggest that once the world reopens, event cancellation coverage will either be very expensive or excluded altogether, according to Christian Mumenthaler, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Swiss Re. In announcing its full-year 2020 ... Read the full article
EIOPA proposes measures to improve BI insurance
18th February 2021
The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has proposed a series of measures to improve the insurability of business interruption (BI) in light of pandemics. The Authority explored options relating to prevention measures to reduce losses, capital markets risk transfer, and multi-peril solutions for systemic risk. It also addressed the general ... Read the full article
SCOR calls on reinsurers to back COVID-19 vaccine
16th February 2021
Global re/insurer SCOR has made a call for re/insurers to help convey the broad health benefits of getting the COVID-19 vaccination. The reinsurer says it has already helped to dissect the misconceptions and questions that surround the vaccination fears, and has stressed the importance of the vaccine roll-out in building towards ... Read the full article
COVID losses likely to exceed Lloyd’s estimate, says Brit
12th February 2021
Specialty insurer and reinsurer Brit has suggested that the COVID-19 pandemic could “significantly exceed” the $107 billion claims estimate predicted by Lloyd’s last year. The comments contrast with the view of some other analysts, such as those at Berenberg, who recently reduced their industry loss estimate from $50-70 billion to ... Read the full article
COVID forces MS Amlin to £209mn loss
12th February 2021
Japanese insurer MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings has reported that its MS Amlin subsidiary fell to a £209 million net loss in the FY2020 3Q period. The loss was mainly attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused MS Amlin to post an underwriting loss of £235 million for the period. This was a ... Read the full article
Re/insurers risk underestimating COVID losses: RenRe’s O’Donnell
8th February 2021
Kevin O’Donnell, President and CEO of RenaissanceRe, has warned that there is misplaced confidence within the re/insurance industry that COVID-19 losses may be less severe than originally expected. Speaking during a Q4 earnings call, O’Donnell explained that RenRe had updated its COVID loss estimate for the quarter to $173 million. But the ... Read the full article
Irish High Court rules FBD Insurance must compensate for COVID-19 BI losses
8th February 2021
The Commercial Court in Ireland has ruled that FBD Insurance must compensate four pub owners for the disruption caused to their businesses as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Justice Denis McDonald found that a policy sold by the insurer covered losses the pubs suffered by having to close as a ... Read the full article
Beazley expects reinsurance disputes after Supreme Court ruling, says Horton
5th February 2021
Andrew Horton, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Beazley, has said the company is expecting disputes around reinsurance coverage following the Supreme Court's ruling on business interruption (BI) losses linked to COVID-19 in the UK. Speaking during a Q4 earnings call, Horton explained that there has been a long-held expectation in the ... Read the full article
Imperative for businesses to change priorities after COVID: Aon
4th February 2021
A new report by re/insurance broker Aon shows that 82% of global firms did not rank a pandemic or other major health crisis within their top 10 risks prior to the outbreak of COVID-19. Additionally, less than 30% of EMEA respondents to a survey by Aon said they had a pandemic ... Read the full article
Hannover Re’s COVID-19 hit rises to $1.44bn for 2020
4th February 2021
Hannover Re, one of the major European reinsurers, has today announced an additional €350 million (USD 420mn) of losses across its property and casualty (P&C) and life and health (L&H) operations from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Early this morning, the German reinsurance giant updated the market on its experience at ... Read the full article
COVID-19 tail highlighted by surge in workers’ comp claims in California
2nd February 2021
The projected ultimate count for all COVID-19 workers' compensation (WC) claims for accident year 2020 in the State of California stands at almost 118,000, according to analysis by the California Workers’ Compensation Institute (CWCI). In December 2020, the monthly count of COVID-19 job injury claims reported to the California Division of ... Read the full article
Re/insurers’ Q4 results to show effects from COVID: Barclays
2nd February 2021
Analysts at Barclays predict the Q4 2020 results season will show continuing effects surrounding COVID-19 losses, pricing and dividends. Barclays expects the uncertainty around COVID-19 losses and dividends to start to decrease throughout 2021. Retail motor insurers are expected to see the more immediate earnings upgrades and could perform better in the ... Read the full article
Reinsurers to bear more BI costs as COVID losses mount: AM Best
2nd February 2021
Analysts at AM Best have warned that reinsurers are likely to bear a higher proportion of business interruption (BI) claims as COVID losses continue to mount and insurers exceed their retentions. In the UK, the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on pandemic BI claims brought greater clarity to the sector, but the ... Read the full article
Berenberg lowers global COVID claims estimate to $40-60bn
1st February 2021
Analysts at investment bank Berenberg have decided to lower their estimate for global COVID-19 claims to a range of $40 billion to $60 billion, down from their previous range of $50 billion to $70 billion which was released in June 2020. Berenberg's June estimate was already significantly lower than Swiss ... Read the full article