Property catastrophe

IAIS calls for supervisory action to narrow nat cat protection gaps

The International Association of Insurance Supervisors has called for greater insurance supervisory action to help address growing nat cat protection gaps, including more granular data collection on insured losses, incentivising risk prevention, and advising government on public-private partnerships.

Reinsurers determined to hold ground on cat as per risk comes into focus

With casualty the topic du jour through the fall conference season and a relatively mild hurricane season so far, the expectation is of a stable US cat XoL reinsurance market at 1.1 as reinsurers instead target other areas of property for improvement, including per risk treaties.

With a little help from our (government) friends…

Undoubtedly the biggest story in the US insurance industry this year has been the widespread retrenchment of carriers from cat-prone states, with headlines spreading beyond the trade press and into mainstream news as availability and affordability issues in property and auto have escalated.

Record SCS losses the big nat cat story in 2023 for US insurers

Severe convective storms have been the main driver of insured natural catastrophe losses this year, with the total hit from the peril setting a new record and suggesting the industry should be placing more weight on secondary events.

Informed decision making with catastrophe risk insights

Guy Carpenter’s Kimberly Roberts, Jeffrey Schmidt and Shannon Peterson outline the benefits of advanced analytics in managing catastrophe risk.

Extreme weather measurement is becoming more accurate: here’s why, and what it means for insurers

BMS senior meteorologist Andrew Siffert on the challenge of keeping track of changing weather observation techniques.

Munich Re’s Winter: Flight to quality in property and casualty amid structural shift in market

There will be a flight to quality for reinsurance buyers and sellers at 1.1 across both property and casualty, with structural change in the cat market shifting the supply curve and a focus in casualty on quality of cedant rather than cutting ceding commission alone, according to Munich Re’s Marcus Winter.

Damageability, exposure drive escalating SCS losses

Gallagher Re’s Megan McConnell and Josie Fix examine the drivers behind the trend of increasing US severe convective storm losses.

Economic impact from Storm Ciarán to total “hundreds of millions” of euros

Economic losses from Storm Ciarán are expected to total “hundreds of millions” of euros, according to Aon.

APCIA: Competitive markets actuarially pricing risk will increase insurance availability

The answer to the growing insurance availability crisis, particularly in property and auto, is to allow competitive private markets to actuarially price risk according to expected loss costs, the American Property Casualty Insurance Association has told the House Financial Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance.

Aspen hires Mardon as global head of property cat re and Bermuda CUO

Aspen Insurance Holdings has appointed Tim Mardon as global head of property cat reinsurance, as well as chief underwriting officer of Aspen Bermuda.

Insurers brace for further UK storm losses as Ciarán takes hold

The UK and the Channel Islands have been hit by Storm Ciarán over Wednesday night and through Thursday, with heavy rain and strong winds leading the Met Office to issue amber and yellow national severe weather warnings.

IDF planning phase two of disaster risk reduction with industry support

The Insurance Development Forum has announced the completion of the first phase of its programme for anticipatory action and disaster risk reduction across seven climate-vulnerable nations, supported by the funding of seven (re)insurance companies.

UN looks to grow parametric cover for disaster risk financing in Fiji

The UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) has partnered with the Fijian government to launch a project to scale its climate and disaster risk financing framework and parametric insurance offering in Fiji.

Climate inaction in Caribbean will see loss costs rise over 10% by 2050

Caribbean island nations will face loss cost increases of more than 10 percent by 2050 if the insurance industry does not step up to provide affordable coverage and adaptation measures, a new report by Moody’s RMS has warned.

Ariel Re: Euro property cat rates must move higher to make expansion tenable

Ariel Re has the capacity to grow in Europe, but more rate is needed in property catastrophe reinsurance across the board before the continent becomes an attractive region for further expansion, according to Tom Orton, assistant vice president of property reinsurance.

Eckl: Asia is one of Munich Re’s largest growth areas

Munich Re’s Asia Pacific CEO Roland Eckl has underlined the reinsurer’s commitment to Asia’s catastrophe markets ahead of the 1.1 renewals but has reiterated that pricing must adequately reflect the risk.

ICA report highlights potential A$4bn annual savings from strengthened construction codes

Strengthening Australia’s National Construction Code could reduce costs from extreme weather events by as much A$4bn ($2.53bn) a year, according to a report commissioned by the Insurance Council of Australia.

Griffin Highline-backed reciprocal Orange launches with Florida entry

TWIA reinsurance costs to rise in 2024 with additional limit and hard market

A significant increase in exposure and continued hard reinsurance market conditions will result in higher reinsurance costs for the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association as it upsizes its risk transfer in 2024.