catastrophe losses

The insurance and reinsurance industry loss estimate for European extratropical windstorm Ciarán from November 2023 has now been finalised slightly higher at €2.067 billion by PERILS.

Impacts from the severe flooding experienced across parts of Central Europe in September 2024 are estimated to have driven an insurance industry loss estimate of close to €1.9 billion by catastrophe data aggregator PERILS.

The insurance and reinsurance businesses of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway suffered from hurricane losses in the third-quarter with Helene and are expecting up to $1.5 billion of additional losses from hurricane Milton in the fourth-quarter.

We’ve learned from sources that insurer USAA has estimated its losses from hurricane Helene at $1.15 billion, while losses from hurricane Milton are estimated to be $218 million, for a combined impact from the two storms at this time estimated at just over $1.37 billion.

According to insurance and reinsurance broking group Aon, global insured natural catastrophe losses in 2024 are likely to exceed the level seen in 2023, with the total already estimated to be above $102 billion.

Liberty Mutual, the insurance and reinsurance group, has pre-announced estimated losses of up to $900 million from hurricanes Helene and Milton, but still anticipates delivering an underwriting profit for the next reported period, with its combined ratio forecast to come in around 97% for the third-quarter and first nine months of 2024.

The CEO of Heritage Insurance Holdings, Inc., the Florida headquartered property and casualty insurer, has warned that its gross losses from recent hurricane Milton could reach the third layer of its reinsurance tower, suggesting a reasonable amount of risk capital will support its claims from the storm.

Global reinsurance giant Munich Re has pre-announced an expectation of around €500 million in losses from September’s hurricane Helene, but while the reinsurer expects significant additional claims expenditure from hurricane Milton in Q4, the company is still forecasting it will beat its full-year profit target.

The insurance industry loss from October 2023’s European windstorms Babet and Aline has been lowered by almost 8% to €639 million by catastrophe data aggregator PERILS AG, reversing the previous trend of increases.

US primary insurer Allstate has reported that its pre-tax catastrophe losses for the third-quarter of 2024 reached $1.7 billion, with $630 million of that total due to hurricane Helene.