Reinsurance News
Losses
News on catastrophe and man-made losses that impact or could impact the reinsurance industry and reinsurers around the globe.
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
Dorian reinsurance inflows to Bahamas exceed $1bn
20th January 2020
More than $1 billion in reinsurance payments are set for flow to the Bahamas, of which residents will receive 50%, according to reports from The Tribune. The publication quoted John Rolle, Governor of the Central Bank of the Bahamas, who disclosed the figure to attendees at the recent Bahamas Business Outlook ... Read the full article
Severe hailstorms hit Australia, as bushfire losses climb
20th January 2020
Storms have brought severe hailstorms and heavy downpours to parts of south-east Australia, causing major damage in areas already ravaged by the ongoing bushfire crisis. The rains and resultant flooding have helped to ease bushfire conditions in some regions, but authorities have warned that the danger is “far from over.” Insured losses ... Read the full article
KBW pegs Q4 global catastrophe losses at $19.2bn
17th January 2020
Analysts at KBW have estimated that global catastrophe losses in the fourth quarter of 2019 amounted to $19.2 billion. Losses stemmed mostly from Typhoon Hagibis, US storms, Chilean and Hong Kong riots, and Australian wildfires. KBW is anticipating rising insured loss estimates for the Australian wildfires in particular, as claimants increasingly begin ... Read the full article
California fires push Mercury General’s 2019 cat losses to $53mn
17th January 2020
Mercury General Corporation, a Los Angeles-based multi-line insurer, has disclosed that it incurred $53 million ($52 million net of tax) of catastrophe losses in 2019. More than two thirds of these losses were incurred in the fourth quarter of the year alone, and primarily resulted from the wildfires in California and ... Read the full article
Allstate’s 2019 cat losses down after quiet end to year
16th January 2020
The Allstate Corporation has announced that catastrophe losses in the month of December reached $25 million (pre-tax), taking its fourth-quarter 2019 estimated cat loss total to $295 million (pre-tax). Combined with the firm's loss experience throughout the rest of 2019, Allstate's 2019 catastrophe loss bill stands at approximately $2.6 billion, which ... Read the full article
The Hanover’s Q4 non-cat property losses above expectations
16th January 2020
The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has revealed that it expects its fourth-quarter 2019 non-catastrophe property losses to exceed expectations by roughly $20 million, pre-tax. The holding company states that the losses were mainly driven by non-catastrophe weather activity in homeowners, and also large property losses in commercial multiple peril and certain ... Read the full article
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