Reinsurance News

pandemic

U.S. P/C sector outlook improving but BI uncertainty remains: Fitch

10th March 2021

Despite the pandemic, U.S. property / casualty (P/C) insurers have broadly maintained capital strength, but although the performance of the sector in the year ahead is expected to improve, the business interruption (BI) issue lingers, says Fitch Ratings. On the back of substantial commercial lines premium rate increases and lower COVID-19-related ... Read the full article

As the world reopens, event cancellation coverage will be an issue: Mumenthaler, Swiss Re

19th February 2021

The significant and unexpected impacts of the global COVID-19 pandemic on the property and casualty (P&C) space suggest that once the world reopens, event cancellation coverage will either be very expensive or excluded altogether, according to Christian Mumenthaler, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Swiss Re. In announcing its full-year 2020 ... Read the full article

Irish High Court rules FBD Insurance must compensate for COVID-19 BI losses

8th February 2021

The Commercial Court in Ireland has ruled that FBD Insurance must compensate four pub owners for the disruption caused to their businesses as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Justice Denis McDonald found that a policy sold by the insurer covered losses the pubs suffered by having to close as a ... Read the full article

Hannover Re’s COVID-19 hit rises to $1.44bn for 2020

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

COVID-19 tail highlighted by surge in workers’ comp claims in California

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

Re/insurers’ Q4 results to show effects from COVID: Barclays

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

Ratings of Europe’s major reinsurers unaffected by UK BI judgement, says Fitch

28th January 2021

Despite the UK Supreme Court upholding the judgement on the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) business interruption (BI) insurance test case, the amount that flows through to reinsurers is expected to be immaterial and have no impact on the ratings of Europe's big four, according to Fitch Ratings. The much-discussed UK BI ... Read the full article

Olympics cancellation loss could be “mind-blowingly large”, say reports

27th January 2021

Global insurers and reinsurers are facing a loss of up to as much as $3 billion if the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics are cancelled, according to reports. At a loss of between $2 billion - $3 billion, cancellation of the event would drive the largest ever claim in the global event cancellation ... Read the full article

Everest Re announces Q4 CAT and COVID-19 losses

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

Pandemic-related risks front and centre for corporates in 2021: Allianz

20th January 2021

The 10th annual Allianz Risk Barometer reveals that exposures related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic are considered the top business risks in 2021, with business interruption (BI) taking the top spot for the eighth time. A significant 41% of responses see BI as the top risk to business in 2021, followed ... Read the full article

AXIS announces Q4 losses of up to $205mn from COVID-19 and cats

19th January 2021

Bermuda-based insurer and reinsurer, AXIS Capital Holdings Limited, has announced a preliminary Q4 2020 net claims estimate of between $195 million to $205 million, pre-tax, for catastrophes and weather-related events. Of this range, AXIS states that a significant $125 million, pre-tax, relates to the COVID-19 pandemic, while an additional $70 million ... Read the full article

Ratings of UK insurers to be unaffected by BI ruling, says Fitch

18th January 2021

Fitch has said that the ratings of UK non-life insurers are likely to be unaffected by last week's Supreme Court judgement on the validity of business interruption (BI) claims related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The UK Supreme Court upheld the judgement on the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) BI insurance ... Read the full article

RSA expects reinsurance to apply following Court’s BI ruling

15th January 2021

Insurer RSA Insurance Group plc has said that following the UK Supreme Court's ruling on the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) business interruption (BI) insurance test case, reinsurance protection is expected to come into play. The Court upheld the judgement on the FCA's BI insurance test case at the appeal stage, ... Read the full article

Hiscox adds $48mn to Covid-19 BI losses following Supreme Court judgement

15th January 2021

Specialist re/insurer Hiscox has said that after the Supreme Court's ruling in favour of insureds earlier today in the appeal of the business interruption (BI) insurance test case, it has added a further $48 million, net of reinsurance, to its 2020 estimate for COVID-19 BI losses. This morning, the UK ... Read the full article

Findings from FCA’s Covid-19 resilience survey “concerning” says the CII

11th January 2021

Keith Richards, Chief Membership Officer of the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII), has expressed concern over some of the findings from the Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) coronavirus financial resilience survey. In an effort to understand the real-time effect the ongoing pandemic is having on the finances of companies in the UK, the ... Read the full article