Latest Catastrophe Headlines

All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.

AXIS Capital Estimates 4Q Losses from Hurricane Michael

Nov 9 2018 // AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd. announced a preliminary pre-tax loss estimate for Hurricane Michael in the range of $100 million to $120 million, which will affect its fourth quarter financial results. The loss estimate figure...

Tallying Losses from October’s Global Catastrophes

Nov 8 2018 // October was a deadly and costly month due to natural catastrophes, with the the U.S. and Europe being hit particularly hard, according to Aon’s Impact Forecasting. Total U.S. economic losses from October’s...

Storm May Have Spawned Tornadoes in Deep South

Nov 8 2018 // Possible tornados touched down in Louisiana and Mississippi as a line of storms moved across the Deep South. Tree limbs and power lines were down from Louisiana to Alabama early Tuesday, prompting some schools to delay the...

New Alabama State Park Buildings Utilize IBHS Commercial Resiliency Standards

Nov 8 2018 // The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources has utilized construction standards from the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety’s (IBHS) FORTIFIED Commercial in the creation of new...

Casualty Losses Provide Impetus for 2019 Rate Firming: Willis Towers Watson

Nov 7 2018 // Commercial insurance buyers are facing upward pricing pressure across most lines of business in 2019, driven in part by escalating losses in the casualty insurance market, according to a report by Willis Towers Watson. The...

4 Alabama Counties Declared Federal Disaster from Hurricane Michael

Nov 7 2018 // Four south Alabama counties have been declared a disaster area because of damage from Hurricane Michael last month. The governor’s office says President Donald Trump has issued a disaster declaration that includes...

Earthquake Prompts Shut Down of Well Completion Site in Oklahoma

Nov 6 2018 // State oil and gas regulators in Oklahoma have ordered the indefinite shutdown hydraulic fracturing operations at a well site after an earthquake struck nearby. The 3.3 magnitude quake was reported Sunday night near Bridge...

Georgia Insured Losses from Hurricane Michael Near $700M

Nov 6 2018 // Georgia’s insured losses from Hurricane Michael have climbed to more than $696 million, with insurers reporting approximately 68,000 claims filed as of the end of October, according to a press release from Insurance...

Georgia Estimates $250M in Insured Losses from Hurricane Michael

Nov 5 2018 // The Georgia Department of Insurance has estimated insured property losses from Hurricane Michael will reach $250 million, according to a statement by Georgia Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens. In figures released Oct....

Regulators, Industry Seek to Keep Florida AOB Abuse in Check After Michael

Nov 5 2018 // In an effort to keep the Florida assignment of benefits (AOB) crisis from further worsening in the state, Florida’s insurance industry, regulators and consumer advocates are on high alert for AOB activity in the wake...

Helping Americans Bridge the Insurance Gap

Nov 5 2018 // Consumers seldom think about auto and homeowners insurance until the unthinkable happens and they need to file a claim. However, with increasing frequency, Mother Nature is bringing widespread devastation to the U.S. So...

Power Customers in California File Claims in Pre-Emptive Wildfire Outage

Nov 2 2018 // A Northern California utility received 146 demands for reimbursement from customers who say Pacific Gas & Electric Company’s controversial decision to cut power to prevent wildfires hurt them economically. The...

AIG Executives Outline Path to Underwriting Profit in 2019

Nov 2 2018 // “We do see it coming. We expect that in 2019 we’re going to be in an underwriting profit position, not a great one, but a profit. And we’ll move from there to a great one.” So said Brian...

Hurricane Florence Damage in North Carolina Reaches $17B

Nov 2 2018 // Hurricane Florence in North Carolina is now estimated to have caused $17 billion in damage, according to a statement from Governor Roy Cooper’s office. An Oct. 31 updated damage estimate from the North Carolina...

Georgia Farmers Face Long Recovery From Hurricane Michael Crop Losses

Nov 2 2018 // Hurricane Michael left a snowy landscape of ruined white cotton on Georgia’s red clay, destroying a crop and likely bringing hard times to the region’s many small communities built on agriculture. When the...

Liberty Mutual Reports $282M Profit for 3Q

Nov 1 2018 // Liberty Mutual and its subsidiaries reported net income of $282 million and $1.911 billion for the three and nine months ended Sept. 30, 2018 versus net loss attributable of $665 million and $188 million for the same...

Florida Insured Losses from Hurricane Michael Top $2B, And Growing

Nov 1 2018 // Total estimated insured losses from Hurricane Michael have reached more than $2.1 billion, according to the most recent data from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation. The current number of claims from Hurricane...

AIG Again Battered by Catastrophes But Reinsurance Lowers 3Q Net Loss

Oct 31 2018 // Catastrophe losses in Japan and North America pushed American International Group to a net loss of $1.3 billion for the third quarter of 2018, compared to a net loss of $1.7 billion in the prior-year quarter. Adjusted...

Court Limits Insurer’s Payout in Massive Wisconsin Wildfire

Oct 31 2018 // The state Supreme Court is limiting an insurance company’s payout in a massive northwestern Wisconsin wildfire. Logging equipment owned by Ray Duerr Logging LLC sparked the Germann Road Fire in Douglas County in May...

Weather, Wildfire Claims an Increasing Share of Home Insurance Losses

Oct 31 2018 // U.S homeowners insurers saw an increase in both the number of losses and the percentage of those losses that resulted from an extreme weather event during 2017. According to a LexisNexis Home Trends report, loss costs...