Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
WKF&C Offers Earthquake Deductible Buybacks Coverage
Jan 25 2008 // Tom Wilson, president of WKF&C Agency, Inc., has announced that his firm will be offering earthquake deductible buybacks from an A.M. Best-rated “A” admitted carrier. With all construction types...
U.S. Releases New Disaster Response and Recovery Plan
Jan 23 2008 // The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has released a comprehensive plan for what the country must do to have a more effective and unified response and recovery in disaster situations. DHS said that the new plan, called...
Ark. Gov.: 5 Counties Disaster Areas Due to Tornado, Thunderstorm
Jan 16 2008 // Ark. Governor Mike Beebe declared Benton, Conway, Craighead, Poinsett and Pope Counties state disaster areas due to the damage caused by thunderstorms and tornadoes on Jan. 7 and Jan. 8. Beebe’s declaration releases...
Tornado in Ky. Brings $500,000 in Damage
Jan 15 2008 // Weather officials have confirmed a tornado touched down and caused damage last week in south central Kentucky. A storm survey team with the National Weather Service rated the tornado an EF-1, with maximum wind speeds of...
Frequency of Ohio Earthquakes Seems on the Rise
Jan 15 2008 // It was just a relatively small shake, an earthquake beneath Lake Erie that was a mild 3.1 magnitude that could be felt in some lakeshore communities. Still, Ohio seems increasingly prone to the shakes; there have been 25...
Risk Management Solutions Comments on French Windstorm Securitization
Jan 14 2008 // Risk Management Solutions gave details of the recent analysis it conducted for a securitization of windstorm risk in France. The securities were issued through Green Valley Ltd., a special purpose vehicle (SPV), and...
ISO: Insurers to Pay $6.5 Billion in 2007 Catastrophe Claims
Jan 14 2008 // U.S. property/casualty insurers are expected to pay homeowners and businesses $6.5 billion for 2007 property losses from 23 catastrophes — the eighth lowest cost in a decade and the seventh lowest frequency for the same...
Republican Giuliani Tells Fla. He Backs National Catastrophe Plan
Jan 14 2008 // Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani said that his experience as New York City’s mayor during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks is a big reason why he supports a national insurance backup...
New Tools Available For Pricing Winter Storm and Fire Risk
Jan 13 2008 // While winter storms do not attract the attention of mega-catastrophes such as hurricanes and earthquakes, these smaller events can add up to impact insurers’ bottom lines. However, insurers can now avail themselves...
Stronger Earthquake Code Rules For Ark. On Hold
Jan 13 2008 // An Arkansas legislative committee in early January 2008 put off a review of the state’s building code after lawmakers questioned costs related to making structures withstand earthquakes that come once every 2,500...
Zero Consumer Complaints From Hurricane Humberto Claims
Jan 13 2008 // No consumer complaints have been received by the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) in response to the insurance industry’s handling of the estimated 5,000 auto, homeowner and commercial claims that resulted from...
New Tools Can Help Underwrite, Price Winter Storm and Fire Risk
Jan 13 2008 // While winter storms do not attract the attention of mega-catastrophes such as hurricanes and earthquakes, these smaller events can add up to impact insurers’ bottom lines. However, insurers can now avail themselves...
What the Reauthorization of TRIA Means to the P/C Industry
Jan 13 2008 // On Dec. 26, President George W. Bush signed the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007 to reauthorize the federal backstop for seven years. First and foremost, reauthorization of TRIA means it is...
Aiming to Improve Alaska
Jan 13 2008 // A small state like Alaska sometimes has trouble convincing the property/casualty insurance industry of creating opportunities in its state. So Alaska Director of Insurance Linda Hall relies on her experiences as a former...
The World According to TRIPRA
Jan 13 2008 // Passage of federal terrorism insurance extension buys another seven years for industry to find a long-term solution Many in the insurance industry breathed a cool sigh of relief when just five days before the Terrorism...
Assessing Catastrophe Risk While Underwriting Doesn’t Require Big Changes
Jan 13 2008 // A little data can go a long way to improve risk selection in catastrophe prone areas For companies writing homeowners insurance in catastrophe prone states, the future of catastrophe risk assessment is now. Today, insurers...
Southern California Wildfire Losses Could Reach More than $2 Billion
Jan 11 2008 // The California Department of Insurance announced that since the wildfires broke out in Southern California in October 2007, 37,117 claims have been filed, and 1,531 of those claims are known to be total losses, with an...
State Farm Wants Proof of Occupancy for Hurricane-hit Homes in La.
Jan 9 2008 // State Farm is warning that it will cancel homeowner policies for about 6,000 of its customers in south Louisiana if they aren’t able to demonstrate that their storm-damaged homes are occupied and are being...
A.M. Best Affirms Ratings of Allstate and Subsidiaries
Jan 9 2008 // Rating agency A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of A+ (Superior) and issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “aa” of Allstate Insurance Group (Allstate) and its members. Additionally, A.M....
Best Report Warns on Danger of ‘Moderate Quakes’ in Europe
Jan 8 2008 // In a special report A.M. Best Co. warns that “lurking beneath Central Europe are numerous faults that rarely break the ground surface but that still could lead to large scale catastrophe losses for insurers and...
