Latest Catastrophe Headlines

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

RMS Purchases Catalyst Catastrophe Risk Models from Benfield Blanch

Mar 7 2002 // Risk Management Solutions (RMS) has purchased the Catalyst® U.S. earthquake, hurricane, and tornado models and related software from Benfield Blanch Inc. RMS will incorporate elements of the models into its RiskLink®...

U.S. Airlines Plan to form Company to Insure against Terrorism

Mar 6 2002 // According to the Los Angeles Times, U.S. airlines are formulating a plan to have a company in place to insure themselves against terrorism and acts of war with premiums set around half the rate private insurers have...

N.Y. Superintendent Details Need for Federal Backstop for Terrorism Losses

Mar 4 2002 // New York Superintendent Gregory V. Serio testified recently before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, detailing the status of the insurance...

RIMS President Testifies before Congress

Mar 1 2002 // The Risk and Insurance Management Society, Inc.’s President, David Mair, testified Feb. 28 before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations on the necessity of terrorism insurance...

NAMIC Comments on House Financial Services Committee Hearing

Mar 1 2002 // The National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC) issued the following statement on the Feb. 27 House Financial Services Committee hearing: “How much are Americans at risk until Congress passes terrorism...

Neb. to Disapprove Terrorism, Nuclear Exclusions in Personal Lines

Feb 27 2002 // The Nebraska Insurance Department announced it will disapprove terrorism exclusions in personal lines insurance, including exclusions for nuclear and bio-terrorism risks. National Association of Independent Insurers (NAII)...

CDI Grant Program to Offer Protection from Catastrophic Earthquake Damage

Feb 25 2002 // The California Department of Insurance (CDI) is implementing Phase 7 of its Earthquake Retrofit Grant Program and including two central valley counties, San Joaquin and Stanislaus, to offer protection for valley homes from...

The Ocean Marine Market: A Unique Animal

Feb 25 2002 // Like life itself, insurance began in the ocean, eventually spawning the various land-based descendants we’ve come to know. While those terrestrial variants-auto, homeowners, commercial liability, among others-now...

Catastrophe Modeling-Feeding the Risk Transfer Food Chain

Feb 25 2002 // The increasingly sophisticated business of constructing catastrophe models is driven by three main imperatives: what are the chances of a given event happening; what are the upper and lower limits of a catastrophic...

Active Hurricane Season Expected for 2002

Feb 25 2002 // What is a Hurricane? A hurricane is a type of tropical cyclone—a generic term for a low pressure system that generally forms in the tropics. The cyclone is accompanied by thunderstorms and, in the Northern Hemisphere, a...

The View from Up There-Insurers Embrace Space Age Technologies

Feb 25 2002 // In the summer of 2001, a U.S. District judge in Arkansas ruled against several farmers accused of filing false crop insurance claims totaling approximately $244,000. Key evidence in the lawsuit—filed on behalf of the...

The Ocean Marine Market: A Unique Animal

Feb 25 2002 // Like life itself, insurance began in the ocean, eventually spawning like the varius land-based descendents we’ve come to know. While those terrestrial variants-auto, homeowners, commercial liability, among others-now...

Catastrophe Modeling-Feeding the Risk Transfer Food Chain

Feb 25 2002 // The increasingly sophisticated business of constructing catastrophe models is driven by three main imperatives: what are the chances of a given event happening; what are the upper and lower limits of a catastrophic...

Swiss Re Report on Terrorism Insurance Endorses Public/Private Solution

Feb 22 2002 // Swiss Re has released a study entitled “Terrorism — dealing with the new spectre,” which concludes that the most promising approach to the problem of terrorism insurance is a “public/private...

Policyholders Launch Coalition to Seek Passage of Terrorism Insurance Plan

Feb 14 2002 // A number of leading trade associations and individual companies have joined together to speak for business insurance policyholders as part of a continuing effort to win passage of a terrorism insurance plan on Capitol...

La. Approves Exclusions

Feb 11 2002 // Louisiana acting Commissioner of Insurance J. Robert Wooley announced the approval of terrorism, mold and pollution exclusions for certain lines of insurance. Wooley said approval of specific coverage exclusions is...

AIR Releases New Earthquake, Typhoon Models for Japan, Australia

Feb 5 2002 // Boston-based Applied Insurance Research, Inc. (AIR), a leading catastrophe modeling firm, has released the 2002 versions of its earthquake and typhoon models for the Asia-Pacific region, in time for the April 1st renewals...

Mo. Licensing Temporary Adjusters Would Impede Aid After Disasters

Feb 5 2002 // Although well-intentioned, a proposal to require the licensing of temporary insurance adjusters following a catastrophe is not needed and would impede assistance to consumers during their time of need according to the...

Workers’ Comp Struggling without Terrorism Exclusion

Feb 5 2002 // Insurers feeling the effects of Sept. 11 have taken desperate measures to stay afloat by increasing rates and rewriting policies with little room for loss. Workers’ compensation continues to have a hard time keeping...

Insurers Praise Bush for Focusing On Continuing Threat

Feb 1 2002 // President Bush’s focus on the continuing danger of another terrorist attack should remind Congress that America’s economic security continues to be at risk since no federal terrorism insurance backstop has been...