Reinsurance News
Flood insurance and reinsurance news
News related to flood insurance and reinsurance, including: new products and market innovation; flood insurance market loss events; companies underwriting flood insurance or reinsurance; public flood insurance through the NFIP; and the expanding availability of private market flood coverage.
Munich Re America partners with BriteCore on inland personal flood coverage
25th October 2018
The U.S branch of global reinsurance firm Munich Re is to offer inland personal lines flood coverage to its insurance carriers and agency partners that use BriteCore, a web-based insurance administration platform. The endorsement from Munich Re America is available to homeowners who live outside of a Special Flood Hazard Area ... Read the full article
Verisk launches new flood underwriting tool WaterLine
23rd October 2018
Leading data analytics provider Verisk has announced the launch of WaterLine, a new underwriting tool that scores flood risk for all properties in the contiguous United States, helping insurers keep up with the growing number of homes and businesses vulnerable to flood. WaterLine was developed by Verisk businesses ISO and AIR ... Read the full article
JBA launches high-resolution Florida flood maps
23rd October 2018
JBA Risk Management, the global flood risk modeller, has announced the launch of its new high-resolution state-wide flood map for Florida, part of a wider rollout for the continental U.S. Managing Director of JBA Matt Reid stated that the flood map provides “a comprehensive understanding of all three principal types of ... Read the full article
Flood Re to lower reinsurance premium charges from Jan 2019
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
Claims paid from recent Japanese catastrophes rise into the billions
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
NFIP will absorb majority of Florence losses, says Fitch
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
Just 15% – 20% of Florence exposure might be passed to reinsurers: Analysts
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
Carriers sufficiently reinsured to withstand Hurricane Lane losses: A.M. Best
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
Flooding and landslides begin as Category 3 Hurricane Lane nears Hawaii
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
Half of Australia’s Hobart storm claims paid as insured losses reach $100mn
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
Reinsurers likely to raise India flood rates following Kerala loss
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
Kerala, India floods to cost $3bn, insurers told to expedite claims
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
MS&AD incurs $600mn loss from Japan’s July floods
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
Parametric insurtech FloodFlash secures $1.9m in seed funding
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
FEMA completes $500mn NFIP cat bond reinsurance deal
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