Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Victims of Tornado Damage Still Waiting on FEMA
Dec 30 2004 // Those without insurance whose homes were damaged in the Nov. 23 tornado that ripped through Holum and Olla, Louisiana are still waiting to hear if they can expect any help from the Federal Emergency Management...
Munich Re Estimates Tsunami Claims Below $136 Million
Dec 29 2004 // Munich Re, the world’s biggest reinsurer, has issued a bulletin concerning possible losses from the tidal waves that struck many countries around the Indian Ocean on Dec. 26, which estimates the company’s...
S&P Sees No Effect on Australian Insurers’ Ratings from Tsunami Losses
Dec 29 2004 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has issued a bulletin stating that it does not expect Australian general insurers to be materially affected by the cost of insurance claims arising from the Indian Ocean...
Swiss Re Continues Investigation of Tidal Wave Disaster’s Insurance Implications
Dec 29 2004 // Swiss Re has issued a bulletin commenting on the Indian Ocean disasters, indicating that the complex nature of the event, makes it extremely difficult to project loss estimates. “Tens of thousands of lives have...
Crawford & Co. Mobilizes Catastrophe Team To Southeast Asia
Dec 29 2004 // Atlanta-based Crawford & Co., an independent provider of claims management services, has mobilized a catastrophe team in response to the Dec. 26 tsunami that devastated Southeast Asia. The company is an independent...
Fitch Sees Tsunami Repercussions Varying Across Insurance Sector
Dec 29 2004 // Fitch Ratings has issued a bulletin indicating that it “expects insured losses stemming from the recent Southeast Asian earthquake and tsunami to affect the Asian primary insurance market and the worldwide...
Georgia Still Cleaning Up After Hurricane Ivan, Storms
Dec 28 2004 // More than $114 million in hurricane claim losses have been reported in Georgia by John Oxendine, Insurance Commissioner, while Hurricane Ivan accounted for $75 million in damages. A number of families in metro Atlanta are...
Best Reports P/C Industry Maintains Underwriting Profit, Despite “Unprecedented Cat Events”
Dec 28 2004 // A.M. Best Co. has released a year-end report on the U.S. P/C industry, which indicates that, “despite the colossal hurricane losses posted during the third quarter of 2004,” it “reported very strong...
NOAA: U.S. Reported Tornadoes Reaches Record High
Dec 27 2004 // The total number of tornadoes reported in the United States reached a record high during the year 2004, surpassing the previous record by almost 300, according to officials at NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center in...
Swiss Re <em>sigma</em> 2004 Catastrophe Estimates: 21,000 Dead; $105 Billion Economic Loss; $42 Billion Insured
Dec 21 2004 // According to preliminary estimates from Swiss Re’s forthcoming sigma report, more than 21,000 people around the world lost their lives as a result of natural and man-made catastrophes in 2004. Economic losses were...
Industry Sees First 9-Month Net Gain on Underwriting in Nearly Two Decades
Dec 20 2004 // Benefiting from profits on underwriting, the U.S. property/casualty insurance industry’s net income after taxes rose 28.3 percent to $26.7 billion in the first nine months of 2004 from $20.8 billion in the first nine...
‘Girly Men’ and the Real World: The Public Role in Extreme Risk-Sharing
Dec 20 2004 // The Wharton School professor argued that insurance companies are not “girly men” when it comes to providing coverage for extreme risks such as hurricanes and terror attacks. It’s the federal...
INSURERS WELL-POSITIONED TO SHOULDER HURRICANE LOSSES:
Dec 20 2004 // Even with the nearly $21 billion of hurricane-related losses expected to be reflected in the third- and fourth-quarter results, the nation’s property/casualty insurers are well-capitalized and safely positioned to...
P/C INSURERS POSITIONED TO WEATHER HURRICANE LOSSES:
Dec 20 2004 // Even with the nearly $21 billion of hurricane-related losses expected to be reflected in the third and fourth quarter results, the nation’s property/casualty insurers are well-capitalized and safely positioned to...
‘Girly Men’ and the Real World: The Public Role in Extreme Risk-Sharing
Dec 17 2004 // The Wharton School professor argued that insurance companies are not “girly men” when it comes to providing coverage for extreme risks such as hurricanes and terror attacks. It’s the federal...
Fla. Legislature Slates January Meetings to Discuss Five Insurance Changes
Dec 17 2004 // Five major changes in insurance provisions will be examined in January by the Florida Legislature during special joint committee meetings to bolster the homeowner insurance market. Legislative leaders announced they will...
Fla. Legislators Unanimously Approve Hurricane Victim Assistance Package
Dec 16 2004 // A half-billion-dollar aid package, including property and sales tax rebates to reimburse residents who had to pay more than one hurricane deductible, was approved by the Florida Legislature before it adjourned today. The...
Florida Legislature’s Approval of $150M Relief Looks Like ‘A Done Deal’
Dec 15 2004 // The Florida Legislature is expected to decide today or tomorrow to provide $150 million to help hurricane victims strapped with large insurance deductible payments. The House and Senate both support the plan, so according...
Hurricane Scheme Ends with 10-year Prison Sentence
Dec 15 2004 // An attorney who cheated Hawaii out of more than $12 million was sentenced Monday to 10 years in prison. Jerrold Chun, 56, had pleaded no contest to charges filed in connection with a scheme involving insurance claims...
Aon: More than Half of Companies Studied Decide to ‘Take Up’ Some Kind of Terrorism Insurance
Dec 15 2004 // With the “new reality” created by the terrorist acts of Sept. 11, 2001, companies throughout the globe faced a new set of issues in managing the broad spectrum of risks created by these events. In a study...
