Reinsurance News
Losses
News on catastrophe and man-made losses that impact or could impact the reinsurance industry and reinsurers around the globe.
Everest Re pegs Q4 catastrophe losses at $215 million
31st January 2020
Bermuda-based reinsurer Everest Re has said that it expects its fourth-quarter 2019 results will include catastrophe losses, net of reinsurance and reinstatement premiums, of $215 million, mostly driven by the impact of Typhoon Hagibis in Japan. A significant $190 million, or 88% of the reinsurer's Q4 catastrophe losses are attributable to ... Read the full article
Suncorp expects reinsurance recoveries as catastrophe losses mount
30th January 2020
Australian insurer Suncorp has revealed that it expects to make recoveries under its reinsurance program after an "unprecedented" start to both the bushfire and storm season in the country. The primary insurer announced in early January that its bushfire losses could hit its reinsurance protection as claims continued to rise. Providing ... Read the full article
Coronavirus highlights lack of cover for outbreak-related BI
29th January 2020
Experts have said that global companies are expected to be faced with billions of dollars of losses as a result of disruptions caused by the new coronavirus in China, reports Reuters. The large majority of insurance claims from the new coronavirus in China are expected to be from businesses, most notably ... Read the full article
Analysts warn SCOR could exceed Q4 cat budget, lower FY19E net income
29th January 2020
French reinsurer SCOR's P&C Re segment could exceed its budgeted level for catastrophes in the fourth-quarter of 2019, leading analysts at JP Morgan to revise the firm's expected full-year 2019 net income down by 7%. After Swiss Re, SCOR becomes the second of the big four European reinsurers that JP ... Read the full article
Bushfire claims will remain manageable through Q1: Analysts
29th January 2020
Mounting bushfire claims are likely to impact the profitability of Australian property and casualty (P&C) re/insurers throughout the first quarter of 2020, but will remain manageable overall, with no threat to industry capitalisation, according to analysts at financial research firm Morningstar. Recent estimates from the Insurance Council of Australia put Read the full article
Watford strengthens loss reserves, warns of Q4 net loss
29th January 2020
Loss reserve strengthening in U.S. casualty reinsurance is to push Bermuda-based Watford Holdings Ltd. to a net loss in the fourth-quarter of 2019. The firm has announced a strengthening of net loss reserves of approximately $28 million across the current and prior accident years. Watford states that the reserve strengthening is in ... Read the full article
Bushfire losses will dent earnings, but insurers are well placed, says AM Best
28th January 2020
The current fire season in Australia is expected to hit the full-year earnings and loss ratios of the region's direct insurance companies, however, non-life insurers in the country are well placed to withstand the record level of losses from the ongoing series of devastating fires, according to A.M. Best. As of ... Read the full article
Global insured catastrophe losses below average at $53bn in 2019: WTW
24th January 2020
A combination of smaller and medium-sized events resulted in total insured catastrophe losses of approximately $53 billion in 2019, according to insurance and reinsurance broker Willis Towers Watson (WTW). At $53 billion, insurance industry losses from catastrophe events during 2019 come in roughly 18% lower than the annual average since 2011, ... Read the full article
Hailstorms see Australia’s IAG claim under its main catastrophe program
24th January 2020
Australian insurer IAG has revealed that losses as a result of hailstorms which hit parts of Melbourne, Canberra, and Sydney earlier this month, will see it make a claim under its 2020 main catastrophe reinsurance program. The insurer's calendar year 2020 main cat reinsurance program provides it with per-occurrence coverage for ... Read the full article
Australia bushfires become costliest ever as payouts top AU $1.65bn
24th January 2020
The devastating series of fires that continue to rage across southeastern Australia have officially become the costliest bushfire event on record, with payouts now exceeding AU $1.65 billion (US $1.13 billion), according to the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA). The latest data from the ICA shows that 20,000 bushfire-related claims have ... Read the full article
ProAssurance warns of losses in healthcare professional liability in Q4
23rd January 2020
Specialty insurer ProAssurance Corporation recently announced a preliminary estimate of $37 million of adverse development in its prior accident loss year reserves within its Specialty Property & Casualty unit. This adverse development is within the company's fourth-quarter 2019 results, and is a result of deteriorating loss experience, which is being driven ... Read the full article
Aon estimates insured nat cat losses at $71bn in 2019
22nd January 2020
Global re/insurance broker Aon has released its catastrophe loss estimate for 2019, putting overall economic losses at £232 billion, of which the insurance industry is thought to have covered $71 billion. Analysts based this figure on 409 recorded catastrophe events in 2019, and noted that the economic loss was 20% lower ... Read the full article
Insured losses from Australian hailstorms now at AUD 407mn
22nd January 2020
The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has revealed that in just one day, the insurance industry losses from the recent severe convective storms and large hail events in parts of Australia has increased by 27% to AUD 407 million (USD 280 million). The latest figure is from more than 41,000 insurance ... Read the full article
AXIS to report modest Q4 income amid catastrophes and Irma creep
21st January 2020
Bermuda domiciled insurer and reinsurer, AXIS Capital Holdings Limited, expects to report modest operating income for the fourth-quarter of 2019, driven in part by pre-tax catastrophe losses of $140 million. The firm's Q4 2019 results were impacted by a pre-tax loss for catastrophes and other weather-related events of $140 million, net ... Read the full article
ICA puts Australian hailstorm losses at A$320mn, further claims expected
21st January 2020
The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has said that insurers have now received more than 29,000 claims as a result of damages caused by recent hailstorms that hit parts of the country, driving estimated insurance industry losses of AUD 320 million (USD 219 million). The ICA has declared a catastrophe for ... Read the full article