Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
News Currents
Feb 25 2007 // Chicago Exchange offering future contracts on ’07 hurricanes The Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the largest derivatives exchange in the U.S., is launching contracts that will allow insurers and others to hedge risk...
Thomas Hampton, District of Columbia, Commissioner, Department of Securities, Insurance and Banking
Feb 25 2007 // Thomas Hampton, commissioner of the District of Columbia Department of Securities, Insurance and Banking. Hampton, who was reappointed to his post by Mayor Adrian M. Fenty in January, discusses the District’s...
A look behind the very good P/C results for 2006
Feb 25 2007 // News Currents The numbers, or es-timates, for the property casualty insurance industry for 2006 are in, and Dr. Robert Hartwig, president and chief economist of the Insurance Information Institute, discussed them with...
Lessons learned from Katrina and beyond
Feb 25 2007 // The 2006 Atlantic hurricane season came and went with barely a blip — despite initial projections by some that there would be two to five major hurricanes that year. How could insurance industry predictions be so...
8 La.’s Blanco: Industry over-reacting to hurricanes
Feb 25 2007 // Governor says state is making headway on storm protection 9 Ark. auto insurance fraud suspect turns self in Fraud ring allegedly scammed hundreds of thousands of dollars 10 New Orleans couple drops suit against Allstate No...
A look behind the very good P/C results for 2006
Feb 25 2007 // News Currents The numbers, or es-timates, for the property casualty insurance industry for 2006 are in, and Dr. Robert Hartwig, president and chief economist of the Insurance Information Institute, discussed them with...
Reaping the wind will be the responsibility of insurers
Feb 25 2007 // There seem to be many questions on the minds of consumers, agents and public policy makers about coastal insurance issues presently and in the future. As an industry, we have been forthright about insurance issues facing...
Katrina lawsuits: Are the winds of fortune changing for insurers?
Feb 25 2007 // In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina when it became apparent that property losses would total billions of dollars, the insurance industry was understandably concerned that courts in Mississippi and Louisiana...
Editor’s Note: Should windstorm be added to the NFIP?
Feb 25 2007 // The agents’ association is concerned about lack of markets and affordable windstorm coverage for both homeowners and businesses, which it believes has reached crisis proportions in some states. U.S. Rep. Gene Taylor,...
News Currents
Feb 25 2007 // Agents welcome windstorm debate; insurers warn against subsidies The Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America (the Big “I”) says the debate over windstorm coverage is crucial for consumers and...
Editor’s Note: (Un)funny money
Feb 25 2007 // Hawaii may have its hurricanes, California has its earthquakes and floods, and Colorado (at least this year) has cumulative snowfalls nearly a mile high. Yet in 2006, the Midwest — not West — won in the...
A look behind the very good property/casualty results for 2006
Feb 25 2007 // News Currents The numbers, or estimates, for the property/ casualty insurance industry for 2006 are in. Dr. Robert Hartwig, president and chief economist of the Insurance Information Institute, sat down with Insurance...
8 Agents welcome windstorm debate
Feb 25 2007 // Insurers warn against subsidies 10 Safeco to cut homeowners, commercial rates 200,000 Calif. customers to benefit, company says 10 Ariz. lawmakers move to raise burden of proof on ER suits Identical bill vetoed by Gov....
More Catastrophe-Related Laws Enacted in 2006, Survey Shows
Feb 23 2007 // Enacted catastrophe-related laws increased dramatically in the states last year, according to the annual survey of state insurance laws prepared by the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC). “Ten...
Burns & Wilcox Offers Fire, Earthquake, DIC in Hawaii
Feb 23 2007 // Burns & Wilcox announced it now will provide personal lines fire, earthquake and DIC coverage in Hawaii. Coverage includes owners of primary, secondary, tenant-occupied and seasonally rented homes on the Hawaiian...
RenRe to Develop ‘WOW’ Hurricane Study Model
Feb 23 2007 // RenaissanceRe announced that it will participate in a project, conducted by Florida International University’s (FIU) International Hurricane Research Center (IHRC) and WeatherPredict Consulting, Inc., a U.S....
Multi-State Natural Disaster Insurance Plan Gets Cool Reception
Feb 22 2007 // Insurance officials in Florida, where a spate of hurricanes have set the industry into turmoil, pitched the idea recently of multistate insurance pools for natural disasters to their colleagues from across the...
Powerful Quake Hits Northeast Indonesia
Feb 21 2007 // A powerful earthquake in northeastern Indonesia on Tuesday caused panicked residents to flee shaking buildings on islands in the Maluku Sea and briefly triggered a tsunami warning, officials said. The 6.5-magnitude temblor...
Lawyer: La. Citizens Nearing Mass Settlement of Hurricane Suits
Feb 21 2007 // Louisiana’s state-run insurer is nearing a mass settlement with policyholders that would be the first deal of its kind in the state since hurricanes Katrina and Rita spawned thousands of lawsuits, an attorney for the...
Chicago Exchange, Carvill Ready Hurricane Futures for Insurers
Feb 20 2007 // The Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the largest derivatives exchange in the United States, announced last week that it is launching contracts that will allow insurers and others to hedge risk against hurricane damage. The...
