Reinsurance News
COVID-19 news
News about the impact of the global COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic and how it affected insurance and reinsurance markets.
Fitch revises London market outlook to negative amid COVID-19 issues
24th March 2020
Fitch Ratings has revised its sector outlook for the underlying fundamentals of the London market insurance space to negative from stable, driven by growing concerns around the impacts and disruption caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. Fitch notes that the ongoing virus outbreak threatens the credit quality of London market insurers. While ... Read the full article
Marine sector faces huge exposure to economic slowdown: analysts
24th March 2020
Analysis by Russell Group has shown that the marine re/insurance sector could face huge exposure to a slowdown in the Chinese economy, induced by the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. The firm found that just six global shipping companies, representing roughly 35% of industry, had a collective $114 billion exposure to this kind ... Read the full article
Forced COVID-19 payments could impact insurer stability: Sampson, APCIA
23rd March 2020
David Sampson, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA), has said that the industry recognises the unprecedented disruption being caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, but has warned against impacting the stability of the insurance sector in the U.S. through forced covers. According to Sampson, ... Read the full article
Coronavirus BI loans available to UK brokers, but not re/insurers
23rd March 2020
Government-owned development bank, the British Business Bank, has revealed that the recently announced Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) will be made available to UK brokers, but not to insurers or reinsurers. CBILS is a new scheme announced last week by Chancellor Rishi Sunak to help support businesses whose operations have ... Read the full article
Re/insurers cannot be the mechanism for a COVID-19 bailout: CII
20th March 2020
Matt Connell, Director of Policy and Engagement for the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) , has stressed that it is unsustainable to expect insurance and reinsurance companies to be the “mechanism for a Covid-19 bail out.” Responding to expectations recently set out by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Connell acknowledged that where ... Read the full article
Zurich warns of heightened cyber risk during pandemic
20th March 2020
Zurich Insurance has warned that a surge in remote work during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic will result in heightened cyber security risks. With businesses around the world increasingly urging employees to work from home to help slow the spread of the virus, analysts believe that the security standards of some organisations ... Read the full article
Swiss Re has $250mn exposure to Tokyo Olympics cancellation: CFO Dacey
20th March 2020
Global reinsurance giant Swiss Re has a specific exposure of USD 250 million to the cancellation of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and also potential exposure in other lines as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. Scheduled to commence on the 24th of July 2020, the ability for the Tokyo Olympics to ... Read the full article
FCA asks insurers to stretch policy T&Cs for coronavirus
20th March 2020
UK regulator the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has said that it expects insurers to stretch the terms & conditions of policies to help the population adapt to the socioeconomic impact of coronavirus (COVID-19). The FCA is in the process of making the re/insurance industry aware that customer behaviour is set to ... Read the full article
CAC Specialty, Fortress equipped to provide financing amid COVID-19
20th March 2020
Specialty insurance broker and investment banking platform CAC Specialty says it is equipped to provide financing for CAC clients facing liquidity pressure due to the direct and indirect impact from COVID-19, thanks to a previously-announced partnership with Fortress. The partnership with Fortress, which previously provided financing for the formation of CAC ... Read the full article
Despite the disruption, insurers expect limited BI claims from COVID-19: KBW
19th March 2020
It remains too early to estimate industry-wide business interruption (BI) losses from the COVID-19 outbreak, and while it's expected that some losses will materialise, insurers are expecting these to be limited, according to analysts at KBW. The ongoing COVID-19 outbreak is having a significantly adverse impact on many businesses across numerous ... Read the full article
SCOR says re/insurers have expertise to understand COVID-19 impact
19th March 2020
Global reinsurer SCOR has called for industry-wide action to be taken over the unfolding coronavirus pandemic. SCOR’s executive committee described the re/insurance industry as having the mathematical expertise to understand the potential impact of the virus. SCOR described Life re/insurance in particular as having a unique alignment with the health and well-being ... Read the full article
Aegon sees no material adverse impacts on claims ratios from COVID-19
19th March 2020
Aegon, a provider of life insurance, pensions and asset management, has said that at this point, it has observed no material adverse impacts on claims ratios as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. The announcement comes as part of an update on Aegon's capital position in light of the impact of ... Read the full article
Swiss Re confirms potential for buyback delay
19th March 2020
Swiss Re has confirmed that there is potential for its previously announced share buyback to be delayed, owing to the ongoing uncertainty around the financial market due to COVID-19. The reinsurer said that it will still seek authorisation for the CHF 1 billion public share buyback program at its annual general ... Read the full article
Coronavirus BI exposure remains “very manageable”, says Zurich CFO
19th March 2020
Zurich has started to see some coronavirus-related Business Interruption claims, but based on its exposures is expecting it to be very manageable in a group context. George Quinn, Zurich’s Chief Financial Officer, has explained that for these claims to pay out the company not only needs to see exposure to the ... Read the full article
UK’s £350bn bailout to ease default risk on investments: Peel Hunt
19th March 2020
Analysts at Peel Hunt believe the default risk for re/insurers’ investment portfolios has been lowered by the UK Government’s decision to introduce a £350 billion emergency package of financial measures to support businesses affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Chancellor Rishi Sunak revealed the measures on Tuesday, which include £330 billion ... Read the full article
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