typhoon Jebi 2018

To the reinsurance and insurance-linked securities (ILS) market, earthquake risk is one of the biggest peril threats in the world and one that the market can’t be complacent about, according to Paul Wilson, Head of Non-Life Analytics at Securis Investment Partners.

The impact and subsequent loss creep from typhoon Jebi in Japan in 2018 caught many insurance-linked securities (ILS) investors by surprise, but the eventual deviation from initial vendor model loss estimates doesn’t translate to a fundamental issue with the models themselves, say industry experts.

Global reinsurance firm Munich Re has lifted its estimate for insurance industry losses from 2018’s Japanese typhoon Jebi to $13 billion, which we understand could put a handful of still-exposed industry loss trigger contracts such as ILW’s in play.

Claims paid by Japanese domestic insurance firms after the impacts of 2019’s typhoon Faxai, typhoon Hagibis and the heavy rainfall event that closely followed these storms have risen by more than 6%, reaching $10.04 billion, according to the General Insurance Association of Japan (GIAJ).

Japanese domestic insurers have now paid out roughly US $9.2 billion in claims related to typhoon Faxai, typhoon Hagibis and the heavy rainfall event that closely followed these storms, which is an increase of 35% on figures released in December by the General Insurance Association of Japan (GIAJ).

French reinsurance firm SCOR reported EUR 343 million of natural catastrophe losses in the fourth-quarter of 2019, after taking into account any recoveries from retrocessional reinsurance and before tax, with typhoon Hagibis the main driver.

Reports from and sources in Japan suggest demand surge is set to be an issue with claims from typhoon Hagibis, as a lack of claims professionals, assessors and loss adjusters has been noted to be slowing the process of insurance claims filing and is expected to inflate claims amounts.

Three tranches of catastrophe bonds exposed to Japanese typhoon wind damage have traded up around 10% in recent weeks, as the market’s view of how large the eventual industry losses from typhoon Jebi and Hagibis will be has moderated somewhat.

Global reinsurance giant Munich Re’s NatCat service has released estimates for the industry insured losses from Japanese typhoons Hagibis and Faxai, pegging them at $10 billion and $7 billion respectively.

The General Insurance Association of Japan (GIAJ) has updated its numbers on recent catastrophes, now saying that domestic insurers in the country have paid out US $6.83 billion in claims for typhoon Faxai, typhoon Hagibis and a heavy rainfall event that closely followed these storms.