Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
How Did Catastrophe Models Weather Katrina?
Oct 3 2005 // While it’s too early to tell if the highly touted computer catastrophe models met expectations for Hurricane Katrina, there are indications the models didn’t work as well as some insurers had hoped. Several...
After the Wreckage, Hurricane Katrina Spawns Lawsuits
Oct 3 2005 // Shortly after Hurricane Katrina devastated parts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform issued a statement warning that the financial wreckage caused by Hurricane Katrina could...
Hurricane Rita Losses Not as High as Previous Storms
Oct 3 2005 // But destruction will add to totals from Dennis, Katrina and Ophelia. While indications are that damages from Hurricane Rita won’t come close to equaling those of its immediate predecessor, Hurricane Katrina, that...
News Briefs
Oct 3 2005 // ARKANSAS The Workers’ Compensation Research Institute reported that Ar-kansas’ workers’ compensation system has experienced a period of stability after extensive reforms were passed in 1993, but...
Editor’s Note: Picking Up the Pieces
Oct 3 2005 // Although Hurricanes Katrina and Rita are behind us, hurricane season continues through the end of November. And while it does, residents on the Gulf and Atlantic Coasts are picking up the pieces and rebuilding their lives,...
Hurricane Katrina: The Legal Saga Begins
Oct 3 2005 // The New Orleans tragedy may spawn a wave of litigation related to flood protection and levee failures. Public statements, which may serve as a foundation for massive public safety legal claims, began Sept. 1. Based on the...
Calif. May Lower Quake Insurance Rates in Wake of Katrina
Oct 3 2005 // As federal, state and local officials grapple with the financial and physical ruin wrought by Hurricane Katrina, momentum is building to make earthquake insurance offered by the semipublic California Earthquake Authority...
New Report Warns of Rising Threat to US Insurers from Climate Change
Oct 3 2005 // Higher premiums, coverage restrictions already hitting many parts of country. Hurricane Katrina is a poignant reminder that U.S. insurers, government and consumers are at enormous risk from escalating losses from...
How Did Catastrophe Models Weather Katrina?
Oct 3 2005 // While it’s too early to tell if the highly touted computer catastrophe models met expectations for Hurricane Katrina, there are indications the models didn’t work as well as some insurers had hoped. Several...
Fitch: Katrina Causes Unprecedented Challenges, Risks for P/C Insurers
Oct 3 2005 // The circumstances surrounding Hurricane Katrina are unprecedented in many ways, reports Fitch Ratings. So much so that the rating agency may need to reassess the core risk profile of the property/casualty insurance...
News Briefs
Oct 3 2005 // Roundup of Katrina Loss Estimates: As the scope of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina became increasingly evident, European and Bermuda-based insurers and reinsurers continued to calculate their potential...
Creation of a Federal Cat Fund Hits Mainstream
Oct 3 2005 // The devastation left by Hurricane Katrina stirred up familiar talk in the insurance industry and beyond about the need for a federal catastrophe risk program. And less than a month after Katrina, insurance regulators from...
Katrina, Asbestos, Soft Market Test Mettle of Today’s Bright CEOs
Oct 3 2005 // Industry pundits have praised today’s insurance chief executive officers as better informed and more disciplined than their peers of the past. The next few months may put that notion to the test as these leaders are...
N.Y. Insurance Chief Renews Plea for TRIA, Notes State Plans No Substitute
Sep 30 2005 // New York insurance officials, fearful Congress will not renew the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act before it expires at the end of the year, are working on backup plans of their own. New York officials have been in touch with...
PIA Legislative Update: Agents Have Until March to Make Recommendations to Florida’s Hurricane Task Force
Sep 30 2005 // Legislative changes effecting property insurance that took place this year in the Florida Legislature were discussed by Keri Rayborn, Rayborn Consultants, and Ron Villella, PIA’s government affairs director, during a...
National Symposium on Future of Terrorism Risk Insurance Set
Sep 29 2005 // In the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, leaders from the public and private sectors from throughout the nation will take part in the National Symposium on Terrorism Risk Insurance in the Cannon House Office Building on...
PXRE Estimates Rita Impact at $30-$40 Million; Sees Q3, Full Year Loss
Sep 29 2005 // The Bermuda-based PXRE Group Ltd. has announced that its preliminary estimate of the net impact from Hurricane Rita is between $30 and $40 million, “after tax, reinsurance recoveries on its outwards reinsurance...
S&P Revises Outlook on Global Reinsurers from Stable to Negative; To Hold Telephone Conference
Sep 29 2005 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services announced that it has revised its outlook on the global reinsurance industry to negative from stable. The news appears in a report, published today, entitled “Near-Term...
Mold Proves Yet Another Challenge in Wake of Hurricanes
Sep 29 2005 // The horrific wake of two hurricanes on the Gulf Coast includes near-universal mold damage, a side effect that, while troublesome to home and business owners, may have its largest consequences on real estate lenders. With...
Brit Estimates Total Katrina/Rita Claims at $256 Million
Sep 28 2005 // The U.K.’s Brit Insurance Holdings PLC announced that it has preliminarily estimated its combined loss claims from Hurricane Katrina, the New Orleans Flood and Rita at 145 million pounds ($256 million). “This...
