Reinsurance News
Reinsurance renewals news
Reinsurance renewals are the key points in the year when the majority of reinsurance contract renewal negotiations occur and are completed.
The reinsurance renewal seasons provide insight into reinsurance pricing, contract terms, reinsurance market positioning and the direction of future trends in the market.
Key reinsurance renewals occur at: the 1st of January, which is the biggest renewal of the reinsurance year and has a broader global focus; April 1st when Japanese reinsurance renews; June 1st for Florida reinsurance renewals; and July 1st when more US reinsurance business gets renewed.
Our reinsurance renewals news covers all of these key points in the year and we also provide analysis and insight into what to expect at upcoming renewal seasons as well.
Suncorp renews cat reinsurance program with similar structure
1st July 2020
Australian insurer Suncorp has finalized the renewal of its main catastrophe reinsurance program for FY21 with a similar structure to previous years. Details of the coverage were released alongside an announcement that Suncorp will be implementing a new operating model and organisational structure to improve its core businesses and accelerate digital ... Read the full article
Rate rises persist as replenished capital supports mid-year renewals: Willis Re
1st July 2020
Rate inadequacy continued to drive measured rate adjustments in many lines and geographies at the June and July reinsurance renewals, while primarily players were able to secure sufficient reinsurance capacity, reports Willis Re, the reinsurance broking arm of Willis Towers Watson (WTW). The reinsurance broker reports that double-digit risk-adjusted reinsurance price ... Read the full article
Assurant gets more multi-year coverage at reinsurance renewal
30th June 2020
US specialty insurance group Assurant, Inc. has shrunk the size of its overall reinsurance tower limit by $230 million for 2020 as it exited underperforming businesses. The U.S. Program of Assurant's 2020 property catastrophe reinsurance program provides $930 million of coverage in excess of a $80 million retention per-event with a ... Read the full article
Influx of capacity could halt reinsurance pricing momentum: Fitch
29th June 2020
Analysts at Fitch Ratings have reported that favourable reinsurance pricing trends are set to continue into 2021, but warned that the large influx of underwriting capacity from recent capital raises could halt this momentum. Fitch noted a significantly harder pricing environment at the June renewals, and attributed the dynamic to years ... Read the full article
Cedent needs were met at June 1 renewals despite challenges, says GC
25th June 2020
Despite the challenges, cedent needs were met at the June 1st reinsurance renewals as the market continued to function well, a trend analysts at Guy Carpenter (GC) expect to persist through the July 1st renewals and into next year. In a recent industry note, Guy Carpenter, the reinsurance broking arm of ... Read the full article
Reinsurers refining Florida portfolios on new view of risk: GC
22nd June 2020
Analysts at Guy Carpenter have noted that there was significantly less deployable capital at the Florida renewals this year, as reinsurers were already refining their portfolios for the state based on a new “view of risk.” The broker noted that the June 1 renewal was the “first genuine test” of the ... Read the full article
Heritage secures less first event protection at reinsurance renewal
16th June 2020
Property and casualty (P&C) insurance holding company, Heritage Insurance Holdings, Inc., has announced the placement of its 2020-2021 catastrophe reinsurance program, securing a first event reinsurance tower exhaustion point of $1.347 billion. A first event reinsurance tower exhaustion point of $1.347 billion represents a decline of around 12% from the $1.5 ... Read the full article
Australian carriers face reinsurance price hike at July renewal: Morgan Stanley
16th June 2020
Australia's primary insurers, which make heavy use of reinsurance and which have exceeded cat budgets in recent years, face a significant increase in reinsurance rates at the upcoming July 1 renewals, according to Morgan Stanley. Amid a wider global trend of reinsurance hardening, Australia in particular has seen a consistent increase ... Read the full article
Reduced Florida exposure the “most prudent course” despite higher rates: Hiscox
15th June 2020
Despite reports of some meaningful rate increases across the property catastrophe reinsurance sector at the mid-year renewals, Hiscox's Ross Nottingham has warned that improvements could be offset by the rise in the cost of risk in Florida. After consecutive heavy loss years, some fairly significant loss creep and low interest rates, ... Read the full article
Lancashire sees rate increases of up to 30% at June renewals
11th June 2020
Specialty insurer and reinsurer Lancashire Holdings Limited has reported rate increases of 20%-30% for its Florida property catastrophe portfolio at the June 1 renewals. The company expects the momentum of rising rates to continue in this and other classes of business across its portfolio during the rest of this year and ... Read the full article
HCI secures larger reinsurance limit at renewals despite increasing rates
10th June 2020
HCI Group, Inc., a Florida-headquartered property and casualty insurer, grew the size of its catastrophe reinsurance cover by approximately 31% at the mid-year 2020 renewals, securing a total limit of $1.93 billion on a first and second event basis. HCI's two insurance subsidiaries, Homeowners Choice Property & Casualty Insurance Company, Inc. ... Read the full article
Citizens opts against fresh multi-year cover on “significant price increases”
4th June 2020
Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance Corporation has announced that owing to "dislocation in the reinsurance markets and significant price increases," it opted against securing multi-year reinsurance protection and placed a smaller, cost efficient risk transfer program for 2020. As we wrote previously, Citizen was reportedly out in the market seeking fresh ... Read the full article
TWIA secures $2.1bn of reinsurance & cat bonds after raising 2020 target
4th June 2020
The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) has completed the renewal of its 2020 reinsurance program, securing $4.2 billion in total aggregate funding, effective June 1st, 2020 to May 31st, 2021. The $4.2 billion in total aggregate funding includes $1.1 billion of traditional reinsurance coverage for a one-year term, and $1 billion ... Read the full article
All CCRIF Caribbean members renew parametric insurance coverage
4th June 2020
The CCRIF SPC (formerly known as the Caribbean Catastrophic Risk Insurance Facility) has announced that all member governments in the Caribbean have renewed their parametric insurance coverage ahead of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, increasing the size of the pool by 8% to more than $1 billion. Acting as a risk ... Read the full article
United Insurance renews cat reinsurance programs
3rd June 2020
United Insurance Holdings Corp. (UPC Insurance) has renewed its catastrophe reinsurance programs at June 1, including an increased multi-event cascading limit of $3.257 billion. The limit was increased by $101 million, or 3.2% on the $3.156 billion of multi-event cascading limit that UPC purchased for its 2019/20 core catastrophe reinsurance program. It ... Read the full article




