Reinsurance News
COVID-19 news
News about the impact of the global COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic and how it affected insurance and reinsurance markets.
WR Berkley posts $65mn COVID-19 hit for Q1
22nd April 2020
Re/insurance holding company W. R. Berkley’s first quarter results have included a $65 million preliminary provision for COVID-19 related claims activity. The company said it is continually monitoring the rapidly evolving legal and regulatory environment and the potential impact it will have on the re/insurance industry. Q1 also saw net premiums written ... Read the full article
UK trade credit package a boost for insurers, says GlobalData
22nd April 2020
Data and analytics firm GlobalData has said that the UK re/insurance industry could be boosted if the government decides to implement a trade credit reinsurance backstop scheme for the duration of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Sources said earlier this week that insurers are discussing a new scheme with the Treasury ... Read the full article
Financial market volatility hits Chubb in Q1, COVID-19 impact limited so far
22nd April 2020
Chubb's Q1 net income fell by more than 75% year-on-year to $252 million as a result of financial market volatility in the credit, equity and foreign exchange markets, with the firm's book value per share decreasing by 5.5% in the quarter. The insurer and reinsurer highlights the mark-to-market impact from financial ... Read the full article
Calls for pandemic insurance program similar to 9/11 terrorism coverage
22nd April 2020
The National Retail Federation is calling on US Congress to pass legislation establishing a federal program that would help businesses obtain insurance coverage for pandemics modeled on a program for terrorism insurance established following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The new measure would require that insurers offer policies that cover pandemics but ... Read the full article
IRB Brasil Re Board members resign amid “serious impacts” of COVID-19 crisis
22nd April 2020
Rio de Janeiro headquartered reinsurer IRB Brasil Resseguros SA (IRB Brasil Re) has announced that certain members of its Board of Directors have resigned amid the impacts of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. On April 20th, 2020 the reinsurer received the resignations of Vinicius Jose Almeida Albernaz and Alexsandro Broedel Lopes from ... Read the full article
Beazley’s Q1 Covid-19 losses hit $170m, premiums jump 13%
22nd April 2020
Beazley, the specialist Lloyd's focused insurer and reinsurer, has estimated that the total claims from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on its first-party business stands at USD 170 million, net of reinsurance, the majority of which is across its marine, property and reinsurance divisions. The specialist re/insurer has released its trading statement ... Read the full article
Hiscox forecasts up to $175mn in COVID-19 payouts
22nd April 2020
Specialist re/insurer Hiscox is expecting to pay up to $150 million in net claims, should disruption caused by restrictions on travel and mass gatherings continues for a six month period from March. In the event that these coronavirus-related restrictions are extended beyond six months, Hiscox expects that these claims could increase ... Read the full article
Australia’s insurance industry poised for slowdown: GlobalData
22nd April 2020
Data and analytics company GlobalData says Australia’s insurance industry is poised for decelerated growth over the next five years due to the challenging business environment and coronavirus outbreak. As a result, the country’s insurance industry is projected to decline by 1.3% from US$80.5 billion in 2019 to US$77.5 billion in 2020. An ... Read the full article
Hannover Re withdraws 2020 profit guidance on COVID-19 pandemic
22nd April 2020
Global reinsurance giant Hannover Re has withdrawn its profit guidance for 2020 in light of the ongoing COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic and related uncertainty surrounding claims and the capital market landscape. The German reinsurer states that its first-quarter 2020 results were not significantly impacted by the global spread of the coronavirus as ... Read the full article
AM Best turns negative on Bolivia insurance
22nd April 2020
AM Best has revised its market segment outlook on Bolivia’s insurance industry to negative from stable, owing mainly to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The rating agency noted that the outbreak has exacerbated Bolivia’s political turmoil and contributed to an overall slowdown in economic activity. In combination with the vulnerable economic environment and ... Read the full article
Swiss Re Institute highlights economic impact from COVID-19 lockdowns
21st April 2020
Analysis conducted by the Swiss Re Institute suggests that coronavirus-related shutdown measures are driving a 20-25% reduction in economic activity among most advanced markets. The different sector compositions of countries will be a main factor in determining the size of the impact, with emerging markets likely to be impacted more given ... Read the full article
Omniscience launches first life insurance underwriting automation suite
21st April 2020
Palo Alto-based firm Omniscience has announced a new software suite designed to automate life insurance underwriting decision-making. By using new underlying technology from Omniscience, this suite is designed to accelerate life insurance decisions 1000 times or more and integrate requirements impacting the whole company in every result. Omniscience notes how the issues ... Read the full article
Pennsylvania classifies COVID-19 as natural disaster
21st April 2020
In a move that could have significant implications for re/insurers, Pennsylvania has classified the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic as a natural catastrophe as part of its decision to uphold the state's business closure order. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court reasoned that the pandemic can be considered a natural disaster because of its serious ... Read the full article
Travelers’ Q1 underwriting result dented by higher cat losses & COVID-19
21st April 2020
The Travelers Companies, Inc. has reported a year-on-year decline in net income to USD 600 million for the first-quarter of 2020, as elevated catastrophe losses and charges related to the ongoing COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic dented the insurer's underwriting performance in the period. Net income fell by almost USD 200 million when ... Read the full article
COVID-19 hits Tryg’s Q1 performance
21st April 2020
Scandinavian insurer Tryg has seen its first quarter performance hit by the global coronavirus pandemic, estimating a negative impact of DKK 40 million ($6 million) driven by travel insurance claims. Travel insurance losses totalled $17 million ($37 million before reinsurance) partly offset by lower frequencies in other lines of business (including, ... Read the full article
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