Reinsurance News
News on catastrophe and man-made losses that impact or could impact the reinsurance industry and reinsurers around the globe.
15th February 2021
Catastrophe insurance data provider PERILS has settled on a final industry loss estimate of AU $989 million (US $769 million) for the East Coast Low that hit Australia in February 2020. This fourth update, which comes a full 12 months on from the event, is slightly above the previous $954 ... Read the full article
5th February 2021
The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has declared a catastrophe event for the bushfires that continue to rage around the north-east of Perth. So far, bushfires in the Perth Hills region have destroyed 85 homes, as well as sheds and many kilometres of farm fences. According to ICA data, insurers have received ... Read the full article
4th February 2021
Hannover Re, one of the major European reinsurers, has today announced an additional €350 million (USD 420mn) of losses across its property and casualty (P&C) and life and health (L&H) operations from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Early this morning, the German reinsurance giant updated the market on its experience at ... Read the full article
3rd February 2021
Argo Group International Holdings, Ltd. has announced that its fourth-quarter 2020 results will be adversely affected by estimated losses of $51 million related to various natural catastrophe events and the COVID-19 pandemic. The re/insurer expects natural catastrophe losses to amount to approximately $38 million in Q4, primarily driven by Hurricanes Delta ... Read the full article
2nd February 2021
The projected ultimate count for all COVID-19 workers' compensation (WC) claims for accident year 2020 in the State of California stands at almost 118,000, according to analysis by the California Workers’ Compensation Institute (CWCI). In December 2020, the monthly count of COVID-19 job injury claims reported to the California Division of ... Read the full article
2nd February 2021
Analysts at Barclays predict the Q4 2020 results season will show continuing effects surrounding COVID-19 losses, pricing and dividends. Barclays expects the uncertainty around COVID-19 losses and dividends to start to decrease throughout 2021. Retail motor insurers are expected to see the more immediate earnings upgrades and could perform better in the ... Read the full article
2nd February 2021
The insurance and reinsurance industry loss from major natural catastrophe events in 2020 totalled approximately $78 billion, which is some 17% higher than the ten-year average of $66.5 billion, according to analysis by Willis Re, the reinsurance arm of global brokerage Willis Towers Watson (WTW). While the insured loss estimate is ... Read the full article
28th January 2021
Everest Re Group, Ltd.'s full-year 2020 earnings will be able to absorb the $546 million of previously announced fourth-quarter charges, according to analysis by S&P Global Ratings. Earlier this week, the Bermuda-based re/insurer announced estimated pre-tax net catastrophe losses of $70 million for Q4, alongside an additional $76 million of ... Read the full article
27th January 2021
Analysts at Jefferies have estimated that re/insurance industry losses from catastrophes were 16% below the long-term average in December 2020. Amongst these losses, winter weather and severe storms featured as the most prominent perils, accounting for 71% of the total insured losses. Relative to prior years, December wildfire losses were lower, especially ... Read the full article
26th January 2021
Bermuda-based insurer and reinsurer, Everest Re Group, Ltd., has announced estimated pre-tax net catastrophe losses of $70 million for the fourth-quarter of 2020, alongside an additional $76 million of losses related to the COVID-19 pandemic and a $400 million reserve charge. Despite these losses, of which the majority is within the ... Read the full article
26th January 2021
Super-regional property and casualty insurance holding company, Heritage Insurance Holdings, Inc., has announced net current accident year catastrophe and weather losses of a combined $41.5 million for the fourth-quarter of 2020. Of the $41.5 million total, approximately $28.6 million, or 68.9% relates to net current accident year catastrophe losses; with the ... Read the full article
26th January 2021
Southern California Edison (SCE), the California electrical utility, has entered into a $2.2 billion agreement to settle all subrogation claims in the pending litigation arising from the 2018 Woolsey Fire. Previously, SCE had agreed to pay $1.6 billion for claims related to the 2017 Thomas and Koenigstein fires and 2018 ... Read the full article
26th January 2021
In 2020, the severe convective storm (SCS) peril maintained its status as a primary loss driver for insurers and reinsurers; as the U.S. witnessed a record 14 individual billion-dollar economic loss SCS events, according to global brokerage Aon. The 2020 annual Weather, Climate & Catastrophe report from insurance and reinsurance broker ... Read the full article
25th January 2021
Re/insurance broker Aon has estimated that catastrophe losses insured by the private sector or by government-sponsored programs totalled $97 billion over 2020. Overall economic losses were estimated at $268 billion, caused by 416 catastrophe events, leaving a protection gap of 64%. Aon’s Weather, Climate & Catastrophe Insight report for 2020 also shows ... Read the full article
22nd January 2021
Analysts at PwC have estimated that insurance industry losses from Storm Christoph in the UK will likely total between £80 million and £120 million. Christoph brought widespread flooding across England and Wales this week, prompting evacuations from a “large number” of homes in South Wales. About 2,000 homes in the Didsbury and ... Read the full article
