Latest Catastrophe Headlines

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

Absence of hurricane losses proves beneficial to insurers’ bottomline

Jan 8 2007 // P/C industry posts $24.4 billion net gain on underwriting in first three quarters of 2006 Driven by a sharp decline in catastrophe losses from hurricanes and other natural disasters in 2006, the U.S. property/casualty...

Editor’s Note: Bi-cycling

Jan 7 2007 // What a difference a year makes. The U.S. property/casualty industry posted a $24.4 billion net gain on underwriting through the first nine months of 2006. For the same period in 2005, it lost $2.5 billion. Insurers and...

Insurance priorities for the U.S. Senate

Jan 7 2007 // Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., is the incoming chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, which has jurisdiction over flood and terrorism insurance, as well as over regulation of insurance, credit...

Insurance priorities for the U.S. Senate

Jan 7 2007 // Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., is the incoming chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, which has jurisdiction over flood and terrorism insurance, as well as over regulation of insurance, credit...

Editor’s Note: Bi-cycling

Jan 7 2007 // What a difference a year makes. The U.S. property/casualty industry posted a $24.4 billion net gain on underwriting through the first nine months of 2006. For the same period in 2005, it lost $2.5 billion. Insurers and...

Absence of hurricane losses proves beneficial to insurers’ bottomline

Jan 7 2007 // News Currents Driven by a sharp decline in catastrophe losses from hurricanes and other natural disasters in 2006, the U.S. property/casualty industry posted a $24.4 billion net gain on underwriting through nine months....

House Reps. Introduce National Catastrophe Insurance Proposal

Jan 5 2007 // U.S. Representatives Ginny Brown-Waite (FL) and Vern Buchanan (FL) today introduced the Homeowners’ Insurance Protection Act of 2007, a comprehensive catastrophic insurance bill that would establish a federal...

Safeco Estimates its Pacific Northwest Windstorm Losses at $20 Million

Jan 5 2007 // Seattle-based Safeco announced estimated after-tax catastrophe losses from the Pacific Northwest windstorm in Nov. and Dec. 2006 of $20 million, or $0.18 per diluted share. Pretax catastrophe losses from the storm are...

Insurer Group to Target Windstorm Funding in Texas

Jan 4 2007 // Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) funding issues will be the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America’s (PCI) top legislative priority in its Southwestern region, the insurer group announced. The...

Fla. Gov. Crist Calls for Congress to Address Catastrophe Insurance Costs

Jan 4 2007 // Florida Gov. Charlie Crist has sent a letter to U.S. Sens. Mel Martinez and Bill Nelson in support of federal legislation to address rising catastrophe insurance costs. Crist also sent letters to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi...

Agents, Brokers Set 2007 Legislative Priorities

Jan 3 2007 // The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (the Big “I”) will again confront a number of legislative issues important to agents and brokers at both the state and federal levels in 2007,...

Mo. Commissioners Elect to Purchase Terrorism Coverage

Jan 2 2007 // Cape Girardeau County, Mo. government buildings have been insured against a terrorist attack, ensuring that taxpayers won’t be stuck with the cost of rebuilding. In approving purchase of the policy late last week,...

Public Adjuster Fees Capped to Protect Florida Tornado Victims

Dec 29 2006 // TheFlorida Department of Financial Services is advising that due to Gov. Jeb Bush’s declaration of a state of emergency in Pasco, Volusia, Lake and Columbia counties as a result of widespread damage from tornadoes...

Report: N.Y. City Commuter Tunnels Vulnerable to Terrorist Activity

Dec 29 2006 // It has long been one of New York City’s nightmares: Terrorists target tunnels, flooding commuter lifelines and possibly some of the city itself. The grim scenario is getting renewed scrutiny after a new report...

Munich Re Warns Insurers Against Nat Cat ‘Complacency’

Dec 29 2006 // While recognizing that economic losses from natural catastrophes were considerably lower in 2006 than in 2005, Munich Re warned the industry against becoming too complacent. In a bulletin on the reinsurer’s web site...

Lloyd’s Comments on ‘Quiet’ 2006 Hurricane Season

Dec 29 2006 // Munich Re isn’t the only major insurance organization to express the industry’s collective sigh of relief as the year 2006 expires with relatively few major catastrophe losses (See related article above)....

Fla. Faces Destruction Delivered by 4 Christmas Tornadoes

Dec 28 2006 // Four Christmas Day tornadoes damaged hundreds of Florida homes, with one flipping airplanes at a flight school and tearing the roofs off three apartment buildings, accoording to officials. Gov. Jeb Bush late Tuesday...

Absence of Hurricane Losses Proves Beneficial to Insurers’ Bottomline

Dec 27 2006 // Driven by a sharp decline in catastrophe losses from hurricanes and other natural disasters in 2006, the U.S. property/casualty industry posted a $24.4 billion net gain on underwriting through nine months. The net gain on...

SCOR Comments on Atlas Cat Bond

Dec 27 2006 // France’s SCOR group noted that it has successfully sponsored a new catastrophe bond. The French reinsurer entered into a multi-year property catastrophe retrocession agreement with Atlas Reinsurance III p.l.c., a...

Florida Storm Hotline Ready to Assist Tornado Victims

Dec 27 2006 // Residents whose homes or businesses were damaged by tornados that struck several central Florida counties can call the Florida Department of Financial Services’ storm hotline at 1-800-22-STORM if they need help...