Reinsurance News
1st October 2018
Flood Re, the UK’s government-backed reinsurance scheme, has announced that it will lower the reinsurance premiums it charges to insurance companies from January 1st 2019, which in turn should lower the cost of flood protection for those most at risk of flooding in the UK. The premiums Flood Re charges insurers are ... Read the full article
25th September 2018
The latest data from the General Insurance Association of Japan (GIAJ) reveals that insurance claims paid for July rains and floods in the country has now approached $1.5 billion (JPY 165.7 billion), while insurance claims paid following the Osaka prefecture area earthquake now total almost $770 million (JPY 86.6bn). In recent ... Read the full article
20th September 2018
Traditional reinsurers and insurance-linked securities (ILS) markets are expected to experience only modest levels of losses from Hurricane Florence, with the majority likely to be absorbed by the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), according to Fitch Ratings. Florence weakened to a Category 1 hurricane as it approached the U.S coast last ... Read the full article
14th September 2018
Examining the distribution of losses from 2017 hurricanes, combined with looking at the market structure and penetration, the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and state windstorm pools, suggests reinsurers might only assume 15% to 20% of the hurricane Florence exposure, based on a $10 billion insured loss. As the storm continues ... Read the full article
29th August 2018
Insurance carriers operating in Hawaii have sufficient capital and appropriate reinsurance programs in place to effectively absorb losses resulting from Hurricane Lane, which battered Hawaii with floods and landslides last week, according to A.M. Best. While Hurricane Lane never quite made direct landfall on Hawaii, it brought over 50 inches ... Read the full article
24th August 2018
Parts of Hawaii have experienced flash-flooding and landslides as downgraded Category 3 Hurricane Lane approaches the U.S state, bringing winds of 125mph (200km/h) and heavy rainfall, and causing reinsurance market exposure through aggregate contracts. Lane continues to weaken as it draws closer to the Hawaiian islands, although its outer bands have ... Read the full article
21st August 2018
The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has announced that over half of the insurance claims relating to the flooding and storm that hit the Australian city of Hobart, Tasmania over May 10-11 have now been closed as the insurance bill nears AUD $100 million (USD $73 million). The $99.72 million figure ... Read the full article
21st August 2018
Re/insurance experts in India are expecting to see an increase in the premium charged by reinsurers for covering flood risk following the recent disaster in the Kerala region, which has caused estimated economic losses in excess of US $3 billion, according to the Indo-Asian News Service (IANS). IANS reported that ... Read the full article
20th August 2018
Severe flooding in the Kerala region of India is now expected to drive economic losses of at least US $3 billion, while the toll for the insurance industry is anticipated to rise. Based on the scale of the flooding and the still developing catastrophe in the Kerala region this estimate could ... Read the full article
9th August 2018
Japanese insurer MS&AD has incurred expected gross losses of 66 billion yen (US $594.3 million) following Japan’s historic flooding in July 2018, which caused widespread property damage across the southwest of the country and left 225 people dead. MS&AD said that the loss estimate, which was calculated on information available ... Read the full article
3rd August 2018
FoodFlash, an insurtech that offers parametric insurance solutions to previously un-insurable flood risks, has raised $1.9 million in seed funding from LocalGlobe, Pentech Ventures and InsurTech Gateway. FloodFlash leverages internet-connected water sensors to trigger a pre-agreed fixed sum immediately to a policyholder. An example of event-based insurance, settlement is made based on ... Read the full article
1st August 2018
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has successfully secured $500 million of reinsurance for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) from the capital markets with the issuance of its FloodSmart Re 2018-1 catastrophe bond. The transaction, which was backed by more than 35 capital markets investors, significantly expands FEMA’s reinsurance program, ... Read the full article
30th July 2018
Swiss Re has partnered with Florida-based homeowners insurer Security First to provide policyholders with increased protection from water damage, including flood coverage. Ratings are to be based on Swiss Re’s proprietary flood model and priced according to the individual risk exposure. This allows for a more sophisticated delineation of premiums based on ... Read the full article
26th July 2018
The U.S Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has significantly increased the scope of the capital markets reinsurance that it has secured for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) via the issuance of its first catastrophe bond to $500 million. Issued via FloodSmart Re, a Bermuda domiciled special purpose insurance vehicle, Read the full article
25th July 2018
As the hurricane season reaches its midway-point, the U.S Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has called on Floridians to secure and maintain flood insurance. FEMA states that only half of Florida homeowners in high-risk areas had insurance against flooding before hurricane Irma made landfall late last year. Concurrently, however, the National Flood ... Read the full article
