catastrophe losses

According to broker Aon’s Q1 Global Catastrophe Recap, insured losses in the opening quarter of 2025 exceeded $53 billion, well above the 21st-century Q1 average of $17 billion, marking the second-highest total on record after Q1 2011.

The insurance industry’s losses due to wildfires are rising, with an escalation in wildfire risk beyond the traditional fire seasons and regions, according to Firas Saleh, director of wildfire models, North America at Moody’s.

Insurance losses from ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred and the North Queensland floods in February have now surpassed AU$1.2 billion, according to the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA).

Reinsurance broker Gallagher Re has reported that it estimates the March 13th to 16th severe convective storm (SCS) and tornado outbreak in the United States will be the costliest severe weather event of 2025 so far, with an estimate for insurance industry losses of up to $3 billion.

Catastrophe data aggregator PERILS has now raised its insurance industry loss estimate for the severe flooding experienced across parts of Central Europe and Italy in September 2024 due to storm Boris, increasing the total by 5% to €2.19 billion.

An outbreak of severe and convective weather across the US Midwest and South looks set to be costly for the insurance and reinsurance industry as tornadoes, large hail, strong winds, dust storms, wildfires and flooding all turned deadly over the weekend.

Tropical Cyclone Alfred, the seventh named storm in the Australian cyclone season, is expected to drive economic and insured losses in the hundreds of millions of Australian dollars at least, according to insurance and reinsurance broker Aon.

US primary insurance giant State Farm has said that its direct losses from the Los Angeles, California wildfires are currently estimated at $7.6 billion, but after significant reinsurance recoveries only $212 million is expected to be retained.

The Berkshire Hathaway insurance and reinsurance businesses are estimated to face losses from the Los Angeles, California wildfires amounting to as much as $1.3 billion, while the company also disclosed underwriting fewer property reinsurance premiums in 2024.

US insurer Allstate has disclosed today that it expects $1.4 billion of reinsurance recoveries will be made from its program after the recent Los Angeles, California wildfires.