Chubb pegs Q4 catastrophe losses at $585m after reinsurance

U.S. and global primary insurance firm Chubb said that it expects fourth-quarter 2018 catastrophe losses after reinsurance will cost the company $585 million before tax, with hurricane Michael and the California wildfires the major contributors to the loss.

Chubb had previously revealed a creeping loss from hurricane Michael, which it originally said would cost it between $150 million and $250 million pre-tax, but has ended up costing the company the upper-end of that range.

The California wildfires have cost Chubb $225 million as well, so catastrophe losses from these two events alone have totaled $475 million pre-tax for the insurer.

In addition, Chubb revealed a further $75 million of catastrophe losses from events that occurred during Q4 2018, including worldwide severe weather losses such as the severe storms in Australia and Typhoon Trami’s impacts in Japan.

Taking its Q4 2018 catastrophe loss expectations to the $585 million, pre-tax, are an additional $35 million of losses due to events that occurred in prior quarters and where the estimates have crept up for Chubb.

After tax the Q4 2018 catastrophe bill comes down to $505 million.

All of the loss estimates are after accounting for reinsurance recoveries and include reinstatement premiums.

The losses came from Chubb’s commercial and personal property & casualty insurance books of business, as well as its global reinsurance unit.

A share of these losses will likely fall to the third-party investors backing Chubb’s joint-venture total-return reinsurer, ABR Reinsurance Ltd. (ABR Re).

While global reinsurers and ILS funds may be exposed where Chubb utilised reinsurance support to assist in paying claims for these Q4 weather and catastrophe events.