new zealand

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.

In a reminder that catastrophe claims are not always settled rapidly and that it can take some years before the final insurance industry loss and impact to reinsurance markets is clear, IAG has revealed another deterioration in its loss due to the 2011 Canterbury, New Zealand earthquakes.

The New Zealand Earthquake Commission (EQC), a state-backed provider of earthquake insurance coverage, is seeking greater flexibility in its use of reinsurance, including the ability to issue catastrophe bonds as part of its risk transfer.

The New Zealand Earthquake Commission (EQC), provider of natural disaster insurance to residential properties and administrator of the NZ Natural Disaster Fund, acknowledges that the ILS and convergence trend has helped it when buying reinsurance.

The New Zealand Earthquake Commission (EQC) has utilised an element of non-traditional, or alternative, reinsurance capital within its recently completed $4.5 billion reinsurance programme renewal, a spokesperson confirmed to Artemis.

The New Zealand Earthquake Commission, who buys one of the world’s largest reinsurance programmes, has benefited from softer catastrophe reinsurance pricing in its latest renewal, allowing it to buy more cover while rates were down approximately 10%.

A new report from ratings agency A.M. Best on the state of the insurance market in New Zealand, as it recovers from the earthquakes in Christchurch and huge number of aftershocks, suggests that the market is on the cusp of transformation. A.M. Best says that the operating environment for insurers and reinsurers has changed dramatically […]

Aon Benfield have estimated that insurers in Australia and New Zealand have recovered as much as $16 billion of their catastrophe losses caused by disasters during 2010 and 2011 from reinsurers. They say this shows how reinsurance has supported these insurers and the reinsurance market has remained effective as nearly two-thirds of their losses have […]

The New Zealand Earthquake Commission (NZ EQC) has failed to renew any of its multi-year reinsurance contracts and has had to replace them with annual contracts instead. Since the damaging earthquakes in Christchurch it has been difficult for many to secure enough cover to replace expiring re/insurance. The ECQ has replaced all of its cover […]

We wrote the other day that reinsurance rates were expected to increase by as much as three times at the 1st July renewals due to the extent of claims caused by the recent earthquakes and the perceived increase in catastrophe risk in the region. Reports are emerging that some have been paying more than twice […]