Latest Catastrophe Headlines

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

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...

Insurance Proposals Stalled in Fla. Legislature

Dec 14 2004 // Two plans, one to reimburse homeowners hit by multiple hurricanes, and the second to charge only one deductible per hurricane season, stalled in debate yesterday during special sessions of the Florida Legislature as...

Multiple Deductibles Among Key Issues Being Discussed By Florida Legislators

Dec 13 2004 // Major insurance issues are on this week’s Florida Legislature agenda in Tallahassee. In long-awaited special sessions, which begin today, even if legislators stick to key issues, it remains to be seen how much they...

Analysts Predict Slowing of P/C Premium Growth in 2005

Dec 10 2004 // Each year the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.) invites a panel of Wall Street stock analysts and industry professionals to review the prospects for the industry in the current and coming year. The survey reveals...

P/C Insurers Positioned to Weather Hurricane Losses

Dec 7 2004 //

2004 Hurricane Season Broke Records; 2005 Impossible To Predict

Dec 6 2004 // It’s unnecessary to crunch figures to determine that hurricane damages from the five storms that hit the continental U.S. this year will exceed $25 billion and that the 2004 hurricane season will go into the record...

Hurricane Experts, Mayfield, Bailey to Address Tampa Windstorm Conference

Dec 6 2004 // Max Mayfield, National Hurricane Center director and Bill Bailey, Hurricane Insurance Information Center director will join leading property insurance industry experts speaking at the Feb. 1 to 4 Sixth Annual Windstorm...

Ill Winds Blow but the Ship Remains on Course

Dec 6 2004 // This year’s annual report on the reinsurance industry is a bit later than usual. It seems that beginning in August the voyage was interrupted by some serious storms, and it was hard to catch up to the boat as it...