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.
NFIP claims paid for Hurricane Ian rises 28% to $2.2bn, reports FEMA
18th January 2023
As of yesterday, the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) had paid USD 2.2 billion in claims for Hurricane Ian, which made landfall in Florida as a major Category 4 storm in September 2022, an increase of almost 28% from the figure reported by the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on ... Read the full article
Parametric flood insurer, FloodFlash launches in the US
17th January 2023
Parametric flood insurer FloodFlash has announced that it has entered into the US insurance market. After a devastating hurricane season in the US, policyholders have been waiting weeks, and in some cases, months, to receive claims to be able to rebuild their businesses and revive local economies. Moreover, in the wake of ... Read the full article
FEMA shrinks NFIP reinsurance program by over 50% amid hard market
11th January 2023
The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has completed its 2023 traditional reinsurance placement for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), transferring an additional $502.5 million of flood risk to the private reinsurance market for a total premium of $90.2 million. Together with its three in-force catastrophe bond transactions, FEMA has ... Read the full article
Previsico to leverage €4.3bn Meteosat satellite to deliver better flood forecasts
10th January 2023
Live flood alert Insurtech Previsico is set to leverage the new €4.3bn Meteosat satellite system to deliver even faster and more accurate flood warnings for clients like Zurich, Liberty, and Generali. The insurtech already provides real-time, property-level surface water flood forecasts that enable clients to mitigate flood impacts, which are given ... Read the full article
UK insurers could see over £1bn of flood losses this winter: PwC
13th December 2022
Severe flooding this winter could cost UK insurers up to £1.6 billion, according to a recent analysis by PwC. Most costly floods, in terms of insurance costs, that took place over the last decade, occurred during the winter of 2015-16 which saw Storms Desmond, Eva and Frank impact homes and businesses ... Read the full article
PERILS estimates industry losses from flooding in SE Australia to hit AUD $791m
8th December 2022
Insurance data provider PERILS has given an initial industry loss estimate for the flooding in Southeast Australia of AUD $791m. This estimate is in reference to the flooding that affected New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania, between 12 and 28 October 2022. The number, said PERILS in a statement, covers ... Read the full article
Yokahu, FloodFlash & Vitesse collaborate on new parametric product
2nd December 2022
Climate risk insurance platform Yokahu, flood parametric insurtech FloodFlash, and global fintech Vitesse have collaborated on a parametric product to accelerate payments from insurers to policyholders to prevent small and medium-sized businesses from failing after extreme weather events. Leveraging its global digital banking distribution, Vitesse has developed a platform that allows ... Read the full article
Insurance bill for Australian storms & floods reaches $12.3bn: ICA
30th November 2022
New data from the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) suggests the insurance bill for storms and floods since January 2020 has reached $12.3 billion. According to the ICA, every eastern state has been impacted by flooding over the last three years, while South Australia and Western Australia have been hit by ... Read the full article
Private flood insurers gain traction as NFIP’s prevalence drops: AM Best
16th November 2022
A recent report from AM Best suggests that only 30% of Florida residents have insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program, down from 41% when Hurricane Irma struck in 2017, while private carriers increased their total flood insurance premiums by over 40% to surpass the $1 billion mark in 2021. ... Read the full article
ICA declares New South Wales floods a ‘Significant Event’
16th November 2022
The Insurance Council of Australia has declared a 'Significant Event' for parts of Central West NSW impacted by the flooding that began on Saturday, 12 November. The ICA has also announced that its catastrophe processes have been activated, assisting the ICA and insurers to assess the insurance impact of the current ... Read the full article
Insurtech FloodFlash expands into US, led by Mark Hara
14th November 2022
Parametric flood insurance company FloodFlash has announced plans to expand into the US market, led by Mark Hara as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for its North America operations. As CEO of North America, Hara will be charged with developing and executing the US go-to-market strategy, initially launching for commercial property in ... Read the full article
COP27: Covea, Hiscox & RSA commit to Flood Re’s Build Back Better scheme
14th November 2022
Andy Bord, Flood Re’s CEO, has announced that leading UK insurers, Covea, Hiscox and RSA, have joined the Build Back Better scheme. Launched by Flood Re back in April this year, the Build Back Better scheme is a joint initiative between the UK insurance industry and the UK Government to ... Read the full article
IDF and UNDP to lead on parametric flood insurance cover for Lagos, Nigeria
11th November 2022
The Insurance Development Forum and the United Nations Development Programme, along with the German Government and the Lagos State Government in Nigeria, have launched a €1.6 million project to develop a sub-sovereign risk transfer scheme to provide flood risk cover for Lagos State, Nigeria. The Insurance Development Forum, (IDF) notes ... Read the full article
Wright Flood acquires IAT Insurance Group’s flood policy book
2nd November 2022
Wright National Flood Insurance Company has announced an agreement to acquire the flood insurance policy book from IAT Insurance Group Inc. and its affiliate Occidental Fire and Casualty Company of North Carolina. Beginning in early 2023, Wright Flood will service, administer, and issue flood coverage under the National Flood Insurance Program ... Read the full article
APCIA highlights need for flood insurance & investment in resiliency
1st November 2022
On the ten-year anniversary of Superstorm Sandy, the American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA) released a statement attributed to Don Griffin, department vice president of policy, research, and international highlighting the need for flood insurance and increased investment in resiliency. The widespread devastation brought by superstorm Sandy to the Northeast of ... Read the full article