typhoon Faxai 2019

Claims paid by Japanese domestic insurance firms after the impacts of 2019’s typhoon Faxai, typhoon Hagibis and the heavy rainfall event that closely followed these storms have risen by more than 6%, reaching $10.04 billion, according to the General Insurance Association of Japan (GIAJ).

Japanese domestic insurers have now paid out roughly US $9.2 billion in claims related to typhoon Faxai, typhoon Hagibis and the heavy rainfall event that closely followed these storms, which is an increase of 35% on figures released in December by the General Insurance Association of Japan (GIAJ).

According to analysts, loss development from last year’s Japanese typhoon Hagibis is not following the same path as 2018’s Jebi, with the current prognosis being that development is much better than feared.

French reinsurance firm SCOR reported EUR 343 million of natural catastrophe losses in the fourth-quarter of 2019, after taking into account any recoveries from retrocessional reinsurance and before tax, with typhoon Hagibis the main driver.

Reports from and sources in Japan suggest demand surge is set to be an issue with claims from typhoon Hagibis, as a lack of claims professionals, assessors and loss adjusters has been noted to be slowing the process of insurance claims filing and is expected to inflate claims amounts.

Three tranches of catastrophe bonds exposed to Japanese typhoon wind damage have traded up around 10% in recent weeks, as the market’s view of how large the eventual industry losses from typhoon Jebi and Hagibis will be has moderated somewhat.

Global reinsurance giant Munich Re’s NatCat service has released estimates for the industry insured losses from Japanese typhoons Hagibis and Faxai, pegging them at $10 billion and $7 billion respectively.

The General Insurance Association of Japan (GIAJ) has updated its numbers on recent catastrophes, now saying that domestic insurers in the country have paid out US $6.83 billion in claims for typhoon Faxai, typhoon Hagibis and a heavy rainfall event that closely followed these storms.

Opinions differ dramatically when it comes to estimating industry insured losses from typhoon Hagibis it seems, with global reinsurance giant Swiss Re opting for just $8 billion.

The market is increasingly confident that industry losses from recent Japanese typhoon Hagibis and also 2018’s typhoon Jebi will ultimately stabilise below the top-end of estimates, good news for those that reserved conservatively and for those for who Jebi loss creep has been a significant issue.