Reinsurance News
Hurricane Harvey
TWIA projects higher reinsurance costs for 2020 renewal
11th December 2019
The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) has said that it expects its reinsurance costs to amount to $93.1 million in 2020, while the aggregate amount of cover purchased is expected to decline by more than 10%. Reinsurance costs of $93.1 million in 2020 for TWIA's catastrophe reinsurance programme is based on ... Read the full article
Swiss Re sees climate change link for hurricanes, drought & wildfire
6th August 2018
In an interview with CNBC, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of global reinsurance giant Swiss Re, John Dacey, explained that the firm believes the series of catastrophe events that occurred in the second-half of 2017 are not a one-in-100 year event, but more a one-in-10 year event. After 12 years without ... Read the full article
TWIA approves $106.8mn Harvey assessment & 10% rate hike
3rd August 2018
The board of the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) has approved an additional Class 1 member assessment of $106.8 million for losses from hurricane Harvey. The unanimous decision follows the $175 million approval by the TWIA board in May, 2018, after loss creep from the storm resulted in TWIA increasing its ... Read the full article
Hurricane Harvey flooding exposes widespread underinsurance: Lloyd’s
6th June 2018
The flooding in Houston caused by Hurricane Harvey in August 2017 has brought into relief the stark flood insurance protection gap for many communities in the U.S, according to the specialist insurance and reinsurance marketplace, Lloyd’s of London. Lloyd’s ‘After the Storms’ report assessed the damage caused by Hurricane Harvey, finding ... Read the full article
TWIA targets $1.4bn reinsurance for 2018, as it raises Harvey loss estimate
14th May 2018
The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) is targeting $1.4 billion of reinsurance protection for the 2018-2019 Atlantic hurricane season, from a combination of both the traditional and alternative reinsurance markets, and has also increased its loss estimate for hurricane Harvey to $1.61 billion. TWIA, the residual market property insurer for the state ... Read the full article
Some 2017 cat losses not developing as expected: RenRe’s O’Donnell
3rd May 2018
As insurers and reinsurers continue to assess the 2017 catastrophe events, the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Bermudian reinsurer RenaissanceRe, Kevin O'Donnell, has highlighted the uniqueness of the events, explaining that some losses have not emerged as expected. Speaking during the firm's first-quarter 2018 earnings call, O'Donnell provided some ... Read the full article
$193bn disaster protection gap in 2017, reports Swiss Re’s sigma
10th April 2018
Swiss Re’s research institute, sigma, has reported that global insured losses from disaster events totalled a record US $144 billion in 2017, leaving a $193 billion deficit in coverage when compared with total global economic losses from natural disasters and man-made catastrophes, which reached $337 billion. Sigma noted that this was ... Read the full article
Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria cost re/insurers $80bn: Impact Forecasting
5th April 2018
Impact Forecasting, Aon Benfield’s catastrophe risk modeller, has collated the damage of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria from the 2017 Atlantic Hurricane Season, and estimated that they caused a total of US $220 billion in economic damage, $80 billion of which was covered by public and private re/insurance entities. Hurricane Harvey ... Read the full article
Retro-reinsurance market to be hit with large portion of HIM losses: A.M. Best
12th January 2018
Due to the aggregation of losses from hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria (HIM) the retro-reinsurance market is expected to cover much of the HIM losses, significantly impacting reinsurers earnings but falling short of a capital event, according to A.M. Best. Property/Casualty re/insurers with the biggest HIM reported net losses are; Lloyd's of ... Read the full article
“The soft market feels over for now”: RBC Capital Markets
12th December 2017
2018 should be the end of the soft market for European re/insurance in catastrophe loss affected lines, with property lines, in particular property direct and facultative re/insurance forecast to see the best price increases in excess of 10%, according to RBC Capital Markets. "We expect prices to increase – the soft market ... Read the full article
Lloyd’s of London’s Harvey, Irma, and Maria payouts reach $1.7 billion
29th November 2017
The specialist Lloyd's of London insurance and reinsurance marketplace has now paid out $1.7 billion in claims following hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria. A couple of weeks into October and the Loyd's market said it had paid claims worth $738 million from the three hurricanes, which devastated parts of the ... Read the full article
Low ROE levels in 2017 could turn market: RBC Capital Markets
8th November 2017
At 3.2% above the 5 year risk free average European reinsurers' low Return On Equity levels could lead to a market turn, according to RBC Capital Markets. The biggest uncertainty surrounding the market in coming months is how wide the pricing uptick will be and whether or not it'll include prices ... Read the full article
Hannover Re posts slim Q3 net income, as retro helps reinsurer pay losses
8th November 2017
Reinsurance giant Hannover Re saw its net income decline to €14 million in the third-quarter of 2017, as net catastrophe losses of €894.3 million exceeded its large loss budget for the first nine months of the year by roughly €270 million. The Germany-based reinsurer recorded gross catastrophe losses of €1.625 billion ... Read the full article
Analysts explain $70bn Q3 catastrophe loss gap: Morgan Stanley
2nd November 2017
At an estimated $100 billion, Q3 re/insurance losses could hit records, but with just $30 billion of this reported in company losses, so far, investors are concerned over the potential knock-on consequences the giant $70 billion loss gap could have on the market. A recent Morgan Stanley report said the gap ... Read the full article
Great-West Lifeco estimates HIM losses of $175 million
31st October 2017
Great-West Lifeco Inc. has said that hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria will result in a combined after-tax reinsurance loss of $175 million for the company, which will be included in its third-quarter results. Great-West Lifeco provides property catastrophe protection to reinsurers through its subsidiary, London Reinsurance Group Inc., making it exposed to ... Read the full article