Catastrophe - Latest Insurance News

Cat Bond Markets Resist Credit Crunch

Jun 24 2008 // Forced asset sales that have frozen major markets in the credit crisis have caused barely a ripple in the $22 billion catastrophe bond market this year and instead only enhanced its liquidity. Goldman Sachs estimates...

Update: North Carolina Wildfire Costs Reach $4.9 Million

Jun 23 2008 // The cost to fight a massive wildfire in eastern North Carolina is going up. Fire command center spokesman Dean McAlister said June 19 the costs have reached $4.9 million. Officials battling the fire in and around the...

80 Dead in Philippine Typhoon; Over 700 Missing from Stricken Ferry

Jun 23 2008 // Worried relatives wept Sunday as they awaited news of more than 740 passengers and crew aboard a ferry that capsized as Typhoon Fengshen swamped the Philippines, killing more than 80 people and submerging entire...

RMS Launches <em>Miu</em> – Cat Risk Portfolio Management Platform

Jun 23 2008 // Risk Management Solutions (RMS) has unveiled its new portfolio management platform, Miu, which supports the trading of insurance risk using RMS’ leading catastrophe risk analytics. A bulletin from RMS’ London...

HCC Forms Earthquake Division and Crime Coverage Bond Unit

Jun 23 2008 // Houston-based HCC Insurance Holdings Inc. appointed Todd Ruyak and Eric Mihailovich senior vice presidents of the company’s newly formed Professional Indemnity Agency Inc. (PIA) Property Division, reporting to PIA...

RenRe Hosts Hurricane Risk Mitigation Leadership Forum

Jun 20 2008 // Bermuda’s RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. marked the start of the 2008 hurricane season by holding a seminar, the first ever “Hurricane Risk Mitigation Leadership Forum”, which announced some key findings on...

BYU Professor Sets Up Disaster Education Group

Jun 20 2008 // A Brigham Young University professor feels the more people know about natural disasters, the more likely they are to survive them. Whether it’s earthquakes, hurricanes or tsunamis, professor Ron Harris says a little...

AIG Private Client Group Expands Wildfire Protection Services

Jun 19 2008 // AIG Private Client Group, a division of the personal lines property and casualty insurance subsidiaries of American International Group Inc., announced that its Wildfire Protection Unit service has doubled the number of...

Iowa Scout Camp Hit by Tornado Closes, Insurance Adjusters Tour Site

Jun 19 2008 // Officials with the Boy Scouts of America say the Little Sioux Scout Ranch in western Iowa will be closed for the summer following a deadly tornado that hit it on June 11. Four Boy Scouts were killed and nearly 50 others...

McCain, GOP Governors Split Over Disaster Fund

Jun 19 2008 // A congressional proposal to create a national “catastrophe fund” to help states recover from natural disasters has put Republican presidential hopeful John McCain at odds with a handful of GOP governors —...

Harris County Leads Texas in Number of Tornadoes

Jun 19 2008 // Harris County has had almost twice as many tornadoes reported than any other county in the state according to a recent survey conducted by the Insurance Council of Texas (ICT). Despite its location south of what is...

New Insurance Law Riling Residents of Storm Damaged Okla. Town

Jun 18 2008 // Five weeks after many of them lost their homes to a powerful tornado, Picher, Okla., residents are expressing frustration about a new state insurance law that is affecting the buyout process for residents of the polluted...

S&P: Pros And Cons of a U.S. Federal Natural Catastrophe Backstop

Jun 18 2008 // Because of a natural catastrophe’s high cost to society, some believe that the U.S. federal government should provide a program to backstop losses for natural catastrophes, said an article published by Standard...

Willis Research Network Teams to Study Quakes with Italy’s EUCENTRE

Jun 17 2008 // The Willis Research Network (WRN), part of Willis Group Holdings Limited, announced that the EUCENTRE in Pavia has joined its network to enhance the quality of the earthquake research and modeling it offers to the...

AIR’s Initial Analysis of Japanese Quake

Jun 17 2008 // Boston-based AIR Worldwide has issued a bulletin on the earthquake that struck northern Japan on Saturday, June 14 (See IJ web site – https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/international/2008/06/16/91005.htm). The...

Insured Property Value in Hurricane-Prone States to Double in 10 Years

Jun 17 2008 // In the past three years, the insured value of properties in coastal areas of the United States continued to grow at a compound annual growth rate of just over 7 percent, according to a new report released by AIR Worldwide...

Florida Task Force Issues Final Report on Citizens’ Claims Handling

Jun 16 2008 // The Task Force on Citizens Property Insurance Claims Handling and Resolution, created during the 2007 Legislative Special Session, issued its third and final report. In addition to the June 11 submission, the task force...

Hurricane Forecasts Have Limited Value

Jun 16 2008 // They May Help the Public Think About Upcoming Storms But Forecasts Have Been Largely Misused by National Media, Says One Expert Each April, weather wizard William Gray emerges from his burrow deep in the Rocky Mountains to...

Death Toll Stands at 10 in Aftermath of Midwest Tornadoes, Flooding

Jun 16 2008 // The death toll now stands at 10 in the Midwest as tornadoes, severe thunder storms and flooding hit Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin beginning June 6. States battled tornadoes that touched down in multiple areas, heavy...

Hurricane Forecasts Have Limited Value for Planners, Insurers