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.

Property cat rates stable amid varied 1/1 renewal: Hyperion X

2nd January 2020

Pricing for property-catastrophe reinsurance remained fairly stable at the January 2020 renewals, with rates-on-line rising 0.8% on average, according to Hyperion X, the data and technology focused unit of the global Hyperion Insurance Group. The firm noted that property-catastrophe pricing was stable despite more varied results in other lines, including significant ... Read the full article

Willis Re notes some considerable price increases in a divergent renewal

2nd January 2020

Willis Re, the reinsurance arm of global insurance brokerage Willis Towers Watson, has noted a divergent and late January renewal season which saw some considerable price increases in certain lines of business. Overall, Willis Re states that reinsurers have been judicial during the January 1st renewal season, resulting in significant pricing ... Read the full article

Palomar Holdings completes reinsurance renewal

31st December 2019

Specialty property insurer Palomar Holdings has successfully renewed around $300 million of its core reinsurance program while also purchasing $145 million of incremental limit that sits at the top of its tower. Effective January 1, the program provides up to $1.2 billion of protection from earthquake events and features an incremental ... Read the full article

Reinsurance rates lower than expected at ‘U-shaped’ Jan renewal: KBW

27th December 2019

Analysts at KBW believe reinsurance rates at the upcoming January renewals will increase to lesser degree than had been anticipated, with overall rate movements set to be described by a ‘U-shaped’ curve. US domestic insurers, for instance, are reporting reinsurance rate changes of flat to up 5%, which is lower than ... Read the full article

International Group of P&I Clubs maintains reinsurance structure at renewal

24th December 2019

The International Group of P&I Clubs (IGP&I), a provider of protection and indemnity (P&I) insurance to the global shipping industry, has largely maintained the structure of its reinsurance program during its renewal for the 2020/21 year. IGP&I decided to renew its program without significant changes this year, following a number ... Read the full article

Rate increases at 1/1 renewals to vary by loss experience: KBW

20th December 2019

Analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW) are expecting rate changes at the 2020 property catastrophe reinsurance renewals to vary significantly, based on the loss experience of individual lines. At January 1, KBW is anticipating the largest increases on retrocessional cover, owing to recent large losses and the significant amount of ... Read the full article

Tremor helps W. R. Berkley secure $600mn capacity for property cat renewal

10th December 2019

Tremor, the programmatic insurance and reinsurance risk transfer marketplace, has helped W. R. Berkley to price and place the renewal of its 2020 Property Catastrophe Program, securing $600 million of capacity from more than 50 reinsurers. The marketplace process enabled reinsurers to log in and submit blind sealed bids over a ... Read the full article

“Unexciting” rate movements forecast for 1/1 renewals: analysts

9th December 2019

Analysts at JMP Securities are forecasting “unexciting” rate increases at the January re/insurance renewals, with more notable improvements likely to be seen later in the year during the April and June/July renewals. While the property and casualty (P&C) market does appear to be improving in all areas, it is doing so ... Read the full article

Average premium renewal rates up in November for most lines: IVANS

6th December 2019

The November results of the IVANS Index, a division of Applied Systems, shows that year-over-year, all lines of business, with the exception of Workers' Compensation, experienced an increase in average premium renewal rate. Month-over-month, November experienced varying premium renewal rate change across most Commercial Lines products, with rises seen in General ... Read the full article

Pricing power to challenge reinsurers in 2020, says Deutsche Bank

4th December 2019

While pricing has picked up over the past couple of years, Deutsche Bank analysts argue that the level of increases post-major events is not as large as it might have been several years ago and remains a challenge for reinsurers going into 2020. While an oversupply of capacity and the resulting ... Read the full article

SCOR renews €300mn catastrophe & mortality contingent capital facility

4th December 2019

Global reinsurance giant SCOR has announced the launch of a new three-year, €300 million contingent capital facility, providing the firm with protection against extreme natural catastrophes or life events impacting mortality. The facility takes the form of a contingent equity line, and is the fourth launched by SCOR, replacing as of ... Read the full article

Industry survey reveals expectation of heightened reinsurance use

21st November 2019

The large majority of respondents to our second annual reinsurance market survey, in collaboration with sister-site Artemis, expect to purchase roughly the same or a little more reinsurance protection at the upcoming renewals. The 2019 edition of the global reinsurance market survey features responses from hundreds of ... Read the full article

FEMA commences procurement of 2020 NFIP reinsurance renewal

19th November 2019

The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has started its procurement process for the renewal of a flood reinsurance programme, designed to protect against flood risks in the U.S. that are insured by the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). FEMA has returned to the traditional market for its NFIP reinsurance program ... Read the full article

Property market still hardening, set to persist through 2020: WTW

18th November 2019

Pricing conditions in the property re/insurance market have continued to harden over and above baseline predictions, with rate increases set to persist through 2020, according to broker Willis Towers Watson (WTW). The current “micro-hard market” has produced pricing increases of between 50% and 100%, according to WTW’s numbers, with some challenged ... Read the full article

P&C pricing momentum unlikely to result in hard market, says Fitch

14th November 2019

While favourable pricing trends in the US property and casualty (P&C) market have been gaining some momentum this year, analysts at Fitch Ratings do not believe these increases are likely to cause a return to hard market conditions. Competitive forces and less favourable claims trends in some key segments make it ... Read the full article