Catastrophe - Latest Insurance News

Reinsurance Rates Up, But Few Agree How Much

Apr 18 2011 // Reinsurance rates may be edging higher only now, but the companies’ shares could still surge amid investor hopes that disasters, including Japan’s earthquake, will result in much higher rates in the...

San Francisco 1906 Earthquake: What If It Happened Today?

Apr 14 2011 // Seismologists predict a major earthquake, similar in size to the 1906 quake, can hit the San Francisco area at any time. With inflation and exposure added, the total property loss if such an event occurred today could be...

P/C Industry Depends Too Much on Catastrophe Models, Says Pioneer Clark

Apr 14 2011 // Catastrophe models are a great risk management tool for property/casualty insurers but even the person who created the first one is worried that they are being given more credit and influence than they deserve. Karen Clark...

Aon Benfield Partners with Shanghai Institute on Typhoon Research

Apr 14 2011 // Global reinsurance broker Aon Benfield and Shanghai Typhoon Institute (STI) of China Meteorological Administration – the only state-funded typhoon research institute in China – have entered into an exclusive strategic...

Baldwin & Lyons Predicts $15.5M Loss from International Catastrophes

Apr 13 2011 // Indianapolis, Ind.-based property and casualty insurer Baldwin & Lyons Inc. announced that, based on preliminary information received from its ceding reinsurers, the estimated after tax loss associated with first...

National Weather Service Confirms 4 Tornadoes Hit North Texas

Apr 13 2011 // A National Weather Service storm survey team has confirmed that at least four tornadoes struck rural areas south and east of Dallas and Fort Worth on April 11. A line of savage thunderstorms packing damaging winds and...

Cleanup Continues in Wisconsin After 4 Tornados Hit

Apr 13 2011 // The sounds of chain saws filled the air on April 11 in several central Wisconsin towns as people cleared downed trees and other debris from streets and damaged homes after thunderstorms and at least four tornados hit the...

Record $1 Billion Catastrophe Bonds Issued in Q1

Apr 13 2011 // Attractive market conditions as a result of strong investor demand resulted in a record issuance of $1 billion catastrophe bonds in the first quarter of 2011, compared to $650 million in the same quarter last year. This is...

Cleanup of Tornado-Swept Iowa Town to Take Months

Apr 12 2011 // Tom Sanford stepped carefully through his tornado ravaged home in Mapleton, Iowa, his work shoes crunching on broken glass and wood splinters scattered across the floor. In the living room, next to his busted television,...

Wide Tornado Cuts a Swath Through West Iowa Town

Apr 11 2011 // A large tornado flattened a grain elevator and destroyed homes and buildings on its weekend rampage through the small western Iowa town of Mapleton. Authorities reported no serious injuries. “It was huge, just...

Tokyo Rethinking Its Earthquake Plan After Japan Disaster

Apr 11 2011 // More than 10,000 people dead, hundreds of thousands injured, nearly one million buildings destroyed, millions forced to evacuate and a fifth of Japan’s economy wiped out. That’s the scenario forecast if a huge...

Strong Earthquake Shakes Japan’s Ruined Northeast Coast

Apr 7 2011 // Another Strong Earthquake Shakes Japan’s Ruined Northeast Coast A strong earthquake of magnitude 7.4 shook the northeast of Japan late on Thursday, and a tsunami warning was issued for the coast already devastated by...

Wildfire Danger Critical in Oklahoma, Texas

Apr 7 2011 // Bulldozers and airplanes have been put on alert as Texas faces an increased threat for wildfires. In Oklahoma, that state has experienced the driest four month stretch the Dust Bowl and thousands of acres have burned in...

Transatlantic Holdings Estimates Q1 Cat Losses at $355 Million

Apr 7 2011 // Transatlantic Holdings (TRH) announced that it expects to incur total net catastrophe costs (net of reinstatement premiums and reinsurance) in the first quarter of 2011 of approximately $355 million, net of tax, based on...

‘Above Average’ 2011 Atlantic Hurricane Season Forecast

Apr 7 2011 // The 2011 Atlantic hurricane season will be above average with nine hurricanes, five of them major, with a more than 70 percent chance that at least one of them will hit the U.S. coastline, Colorado State University...

Aon Benfield Launches Cyprus Earthquake Model

Apr 7 2011 // Aon Benfield, the global reinsurance intermediary and capital advisor of Aon Corp., has launched an earthquake model for the island of Cyprus, following requests from insurers seeking “to increase their understanding...

Reinsurance Rates Rising, But Few Agree Where, How Much

Apr 6 2011 // Reinsurance rates may be edging higher only now, but the companies’ shares could still surge amid investor hopes that disasters, including Japan’s earthquake, will result in much higher rates in the...

Reinsurance Rates Are Rising, but Few Agree Where