Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Measuring Risk: Insurers’ day of reckoning arrives
Apr 3 2006 // The threat of more natural disasters could make 2006 a watershed year in how the insurance industry measures risk. With American carriers revamping their reporting and management structures, insurers are expected to...
Totally ready or just terrorism ready?
Apr 3 2006 // Is the nation’s terrorism-centric focus hurting its efforts to plan for other disasters? Dr. James L. Valverde Jr., director of economics and risk management for the Insurance Information Institute, posed that...
Officials hope ’06 quake centennial prompts more to get insurance
Apr 3 2006 // When San Francisco resident Charlie Bott got an offer in the mail recently for earthquake insurance, he stared long and hard at the bottom line. Then he threw it away. “It was way beyond anything you pay for house...
STANDARD & POOR’S IMPLEMENTS NEW WAY TO ASSESS INSURERS’ CATASTROPHE RISK
Apr 3 2006 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services said that its criteria for measuring catastrophe risk for primary insurers will be revised early in the second quarter of this year. (For reinsurers, there are no current plans...
Fitch: Deterioration in profits for U.S. P/C sector
Apr 3 2006 // The U.S. property/casualty insurance industry will report deterioration in profitability in 2005 because insured catastrophe losses reached record levels in 2005, Fitch Ratings said. The decrease in profitability is...
Northeast warned ‘historic’ weather disaster could hit this year
Apr 3 2006 // The northeast U.S. coast is “long overdue” and could be the target of a serious hurricane, perhaps as early as this season, according to forecasters. Weather experts at the AccuWeather.com Hurricane Center say...
Spotlight: Special Events
Apr 3 2006 // The Olympic Games began and ended without incident but what if they had been cancelled? While Italians sadly said farewell to the Torino 2006 XX Olympic Winter Games, held Feb. 10-26, insurers are happy the event came and...
Lawyer: Whistleblower helping build case against insurer in Hurricane Katrina lawsuit
Apr 3 2006 // A high-profile litigator in Moss Point, Miss. said that a whistleblower is helping him build a case against insurers who denied thousands of claims from policyholders whose homes were destroyed in Hurricane...
Texas insurers see profits despite Hurricane Rita
Apr 3 2006 // Texas home insurers turned substantial profits last year despite Hurricane Rita’s destruction, prompting state regulators to question whether some companies’ rates are too high, the Associated Press...
Louisiana, Texas look to bonds for cat funding
Apr 3 2006 // With record hurricane losses in back to back seasons, states along the U.S. Gulf Coast are aiming to boost reserves for their insurers of last resort through the issuance of catastrophe bonds. Louisiana is hard at work...
News Currents
Apr 3 2006 // TDI’s Selden explains department’s high tech, high touch approach And tells a good news/bad news story along the way Texas Department of Insurance Senior Associate Commis-sioner for Consumer Affairs Audrey...
Managing Disasters
Apr 3 2006 // Totally ready or just terrorism ready? Is the nation’s terrorism-centric focus hurting its efforts to plan for other disasters? Dr. James L. Valverde Jr., director of economics and risk management for the Insurance...
Editor’s Note: Hurricane Fatigue
Apr 3 2006 // While homeowners and businesses can physically pickup the pieces following a natural disaster, mending the hearts and minds of those in the field is not so easy. Four industry CEOs recently described the emotional impact...
Risk Management Solutions predicts hurricane activity to increase losses by 40 percent
Apr 3 2006 // Risk Management Solutions, Newark, Calif., expects increases in hurricane landfall frequencies will increase modeled annualized insurance losses by 40 percent on average across the Gulf Coast, Florida and the Southeast,...
Measuring Risk: Insurers’ day of reckoning arrives
Apr 3 2006 // “The ultimate objective is for an insurer is to use an ERM framework to better understand and manage the correlation and diversification of risk across the company and uses this information to determine overall risk...
The pre-bindingdisclosure reveals the standard commission Zurich pays agents by type of policy and
Apr 3 2006 // outlines any contingency compensation arrangements. News Currents Zurich agents caught in compensation disclosure web Insurer agrees to nationwide compensation disclosure along with payments of $325 million in two...
Catastrophe bonds becoming a common alternative toreinsurance, S&P says
Apr 3 2006 // The insurance industry is turning more frequently to catastrophe bonds, according to an article, “Catastrophe Bonds: Assessing A Risky Business,” which was published by Standard & Poor’s Ratings...
Spotlight: Catastrophic Coverage
Apr 3 2006 // Ruins of San Francisco’s city hall after the earthquake and fire of 1906. Photo courtesy of Fireman’s Fund. San Francisco street scene after the earthquake and fire of 1906. Photo courtesy of Fireman’s...
Financial Commentary
Apr 3 2006 // Do under-reserved property/casualty insurers deserve high ratings? Publicly traded property casualty insurance companies must serve many masters. To be competitive in the marketplace, they must offer products that meet the...
Fitch: Deterioration in profits for U.S. P/C sector
Apr 3 2006 // The U.S. property/casualty insurance industry will report deterioration in profitability in 2005 because insured catastrophe losses reached record levels in 2005, Fitch Ratings said. The decrease in profitability is...
