Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Industry Eyes Renewal of U.S. Terror Reinsurance and Alternatives Should Congress Fail
Mar 5 2019 // U.S. insurers are pushing for the extension of a federal terrorism risk insurance program, hoping to fend off a possible gap that would leave their clients scrambling for alternate coverage. The program, which expires at...
Death Toll Climbs After Tornadoes Strike Southeast
Mar 5 2019 // This photo shows debris in Lee County, Ala., after what appeared to be a tornado struck in the area Sunday, March 3, 2019. Severe storms destroyed mobile homes, snapped trees and left a trail of destruction amid weather...
Opinion: California’s Wildfires Burn Our Climate Illusions
Mar 4 2019 // Joan Didion’s “Holy Water,” written in 1977, is a paean to the elaborate engineering that supplied her taps in Malibu and filled drinking glasses in Hollywood restaurants. At its heart is a warning: The...
Pool Re Completes £2.3B ($3.1B) Terrorism Retrocession Placement
Mar 1 2019 // Pool Re, Britain’s state-backed terrorism reinsurer, has today completed placement of its £2.3 billion (US$3.1 billion) retrocession program with more than 50 international reinsurers, led by Munich Re. The program,...
Liberty Mutual Boosted Q4, 2018 Profit Helped by Lower Catastrophe Losses
Feb 28 2019 // Liberty Mutual Holding Co. and its subsidiaries reported net income of $249 million for the fourth quarter 2018 and $2.160 billion for the full year 2018, increases of $44 million and $2.143 billion over the same periods...
Insurer Group Warns on Property Losses Due to Climate Change
Feb 27 2019 // Insurers are increasingly worried that rising temperatures will lead to a slump in property values that could spark broader financial turmoil. Those were the conclusions a group run out of the University of Cambridge...
U.K.’s Pool Re Sells Terrorism Risk Catastrophe Bond
Feb 26 2019 // A U.K. reinsurer has sold the first terror catastrophe bond, giving investors the chance to lock in high yields in return for taking on terrorism risks. The 75 million-pound ($99 million) three-year bond will pay 5.9...
Tornado Kills 1 in Mississippi; Flooding Threatens Southeast
Feb 26 2019 // Weekend storms raked parts of the Southeast, leaving deaths and injuries in their wake as a tornado smashed into a commercial district in a small Mississippi city and drenching rains fed a rising flood threat. A woman was...
Florida Woman Arrested in $68K Hurricane Irma Scam
Feb 21 2019 // A Florida woman has been arrested for alleged unlicensed practice of public adjusting and grand theft related to Hurricane Irma, according to a statement from the Florida Department of Financial Services. Mary Bruce is...
Ironshore’s Shrubb Joins AXA XL’s Terrorism Insurance Team in U.S.
Feb 20 2019 // Morgan Shrubb has joined AXA XL Insurance as underwriting manager for War, Terrorism & Political Violence insurance. Shrubb joins AXA XL from Ironshore International where she served as a production specialist, charged...
Thousands of Lawsuits Demanding PG&E Pay for Damages from Wildfires
Feb 18 2019 // Some 1,000 lawsuits have been filed since late 2017 demanding Pacific Gas & Electric Corporation pay for damages caused by wildfires. The lawsuits represent thousands of people, companies, cities and counties affected...
Number of Missouri Homes with Earthquake Coverage Declines
Feb 18 2019 // Between 2008 and 2017 rhere was a significant drop in the number of homes in Missouri insured for damage from earthquake, state insurance regulators report. That’s despite the fact that earthquakes present a...
Insurance Linked Securities Market Grows to $93B in 2018: Willis Re
Feb 18 2019 // Growth of the insurance linked securities (ILS) market reached $93 billion in 2018, up from $88 billion during the prior year, according to the new ILS Market Update from Willis Re, the reinsurance division of Willis...
Predicting Path of Spreading Wildfires
Feb 18 2019 // A University of Missouri researcher is teaming up with scholars in Kansas and Georgia to develop drone technology to monitor and potentially predict the spread of wildfires. The $1.2 million project will use drones to...
California Weighs Buying Disaster Insurance Policy to Cover Wildfire Costs
Feb 14 2019 // California’s insurance commissioner and a lawmaker want to the state to consider buying insurance in the private market to cover rapidly increasing costs of fighting wildfires due to climate change. State Sen. Bill...
AIG Reports Q4 Loss on Catastrophes, Lower Investment Returns
Feb 13 2019 // American International Group Inc. on Wednesday reported a quarterly loss as the insurer was hit with catastrophe losses and made a lower return on investments in a volatile market. Excluding realized investment gains and...
UK’s Pool Re Extends Terrorism Cover to Include Non-Damage Business Interruption
Feb 13 2019 // UK’s Pool Re now is able to cover losses incurred if a business cannot trade or is prevented from accessing its premises in the wake of a terrorist attack. Before a change in the law, Pool Re, a public-private...
Georgia House Budget Increases Funds for Hurricane, School Safety
Feb 13 2019 // The Georgia House has approved a midyear budget adjustment that increases funding for school safety and farmers hit by the devastation of Hurricane Michael in October. Republican Rep. Terry England, chairman of the House...
Firefighters Gain Upper Hand over New Zealand Wildfires; Evacuees Return Home
Feb 12 2019 // About 3,000 people who fled as a wildfire threatened a New Zealand town were allowed to return home Monday [Feb. 11] as firefighting conditions improved. Another 400 residents living in valleys near the fire aren’t...
CNA Reports Q4 Loss on Catastrophes, Investments
Feb 11 2019 // Catastrophe claims and a disappointing investment performance drove commercial lines insurer CNA Financial Corp. to an $84 million loss in the fourth quarter of 2018. The quarter’s $84 million net loss compare to...
