Archive for June, 2011

Risk modeller EQECAT released the first insured loss estimate for the recent 13th June M6.0 earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand on Tuesday. Their initial loss estimate was for damages of between $3 billion and $5 billion from this event. This seems reasonable given that the city has suffered so much damage and has so many […]

Allstate are the latest U.S. insurer to announce massive losses due to the severe weather which hit the U.S. midwest and south during April and May. Being the largest home and auto insurer in the U.S. their losses were always going to be meaningful. The period of severe thunderstorms which spawned record breaking numbers of […]

The industry loss warranty market has seen price rises across the board since the start of the year according to a report from specialist reinsurance broker and consultancy JLT Re. The report looks at the state of the reinsurance market including industry loss warranties after the 1st June property catastrophe reinsurance renewals.

Higher reinsurance rates at the 1st July renewals likely won’t be enough to help reinsurance companies make up the losses they have suffered from disasters so far this year, according to FBR Capital Markets analyst Bijan Moazami in an investor update.

The Tennessee legislative and Governor Bill Haslem have implemented and signed into law a new bill designed to make the state a more attractive place for captive insurer formation. Amongst various changes to the way captives are governed in Tennessee of most interest to us is the introduction of a new class of captive insurer […]

The Microinsurance Catastrophe Risk Organisation (MiCRO) facility, which was launched in April by a high-profile partnership of companies, is reported (by Microfinance Focus) to have been triggered in Haiti during recent heavy rain and flooding in Haiti. The facility provides a microinsurance product which utilises a parametric trigger to settle claims after specific catastrophes including […]

The latest earthquake which struck the Christchurch area of New Zealand on the 13th June has officially been classified as a new event for insurance purposes by the New Zealand Earthquake Commission (EQC). That means that insurers and reinsurers will be on the hook for claims above the coverage level that the EQC provides.

The Pennsylvania Public School Employees’ Retirement System, the public body that organises, manages and invests the retirement funds of public school employees in Pennsylvania, is to broaden their investment policy to include new asset classes according to Pensions & Investments.

The Mariah Re Ltd. catastrophe bond, which provides coverage to American Family Mutual Insurance for severe thunderstorms including tornadoes, has continued to incur qualifying event losses from the recent severe weather across the U.S. The events which have qualified have now resulted in sufficient covered losses for the rating of the transaction to be placed […]

Flagstone Re’s Japan earthquake stricken catastrophe bond, Montana Re Ltd., was confirmed as activated and now on risk for subsequent events ten days ago. At the time no report had emerged to identify the impact to the catastrophe bond notes ratings. Now Standard & Poor’s have announced that the notes have indeed been downgraded as […]