insured losses

The significant winter storm events in the UK and U.S. have contributed to one of the largest single month catastrophe insurance and reinsurance loss bills in recent times, with December set to see an insurance bill of at least $4 billion.

Losses from natural catastrophes in 2015 resulted in just $27 billion of impact to the insurance and reinsurance industry, according to Munich Re, lower than the figure seen in 2014 and the lowest since 2009.

The recent outbreaks of severe weather in the U.S., which has featured severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, heavy snow, ice and flooding, will result in economic losses of over $1 billion and take the economic loss total from severe thunderstorms to above average for 2015.

The port of Tianjin, China storage facility explosions is set to lead the way in 2015 as the largest single catastrophe or man-made disaster insurance industry loss, but the total for the year is set to come in well below average, at an estimated $32 billion, 48% below the long-term average.

Global catastrophe events during October are expected to incur economic losses of more than $10 billion, as historic flooding inundated South Carolina, typhoons impacted Asia and the record-breaking hurricane Patricia made landfall in Mexico, according to Aon Benfield.

The 2011 Canterbury, New Zealand earthquakes continue to demonstrate how complicated an event major earthquakes can be, in terms of calculating losses, as Insurance Australia Group (IAG) revealed further impacts to its bottom-line from claims deterioration.

Global reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter has estimated that, based on preliminary data, insurance industry losses from U.S. wildfire activity in 2015 are likely to reach and may even exceed $1.75 billion.

The frequency of catastrophe events is on the rise across the U.S. and Canada while the severity of adverse weather events during the first nine months of 2015 declined year-on-year, according to Property Claim Services (PCS).

Insurance industry losses from wildfires in California have hit $1.15 billion in September, with economic losses above $2 billion, and the figure will rise as the season peaks, according to analysis from reinsurance broker Aon Benfield’s Impact Forecasting unit.

PERILS AG, the provider of industry-wide European catastrophe exposure, industry loss data and indices, has launched a new website called Wind-Jeannie which provides forecasts of potential industry losses from European windstorms.