Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Aon Benfield Pushes for ‘Simplified Internal Model’ for Solvency II Approval
Feb 22 2011 // Aon Benfield, the global reinsurance intermediary and capital advisor of Aon Corporation, is calling for a “simplified Internal Model Approval Process (IMAP) for natural catastrophe risk that would encourage insurers...
State Geologists Put Calif. Earthquake Maps Online
Feb 14 2011 // Anyone with an Internet connection can now find out whether the house they want to buy is on one of California’s earthquake faults. The California Geological Survey announced that it was posting its fault zone maps...
Allstate Profit Falls as Auto, Catastrophe Claims Rise
Feb 10 2011 // Allstate Insurance net income fell 43 percent in the fourth quarter as rising claims from auto insurance customers and catastrophes took their toll. Allstate’s fourth quarter 2010 net profit was $296 million compared...
Swiss Re Urges Australia to Use Cat Bonds as Disaster Risk Rises
Feb 10 2011 // Global reinsurance giant Swiss Re said Australia’s natural disaster risk was increasing and urged its governments to cover the rising damages bill using insurance instruments like catastrophe bonds as opposed to...
WKF&C to Offer Earthquake Coverage
Feb 9 2011 // San Francisco-based WKF&C Agency Inc. and Insurance Company of the West have announced a strategic partnership in which WKF&C will offer earthquake insurance on a monoline basis for select commercial business. The...
SPECIAL REPORT: Extreme Weather Batters Insurance Industry
Feb 9 2011 // In Chester County, South Carolina, off a dirt road in the middle of a field, insurance companies are literally unleashing a storm. To simulate hurricane-like conditions, an industry group has built a wind tunnel big enough...
Virginia Officials Plan Statewide Tornado Drill
Feb 8 2011 // Virginia emergency management officials are planning to hold a statewide tornado drill. The drill is a joint effort between the state Department of Emergency Management and the National Weather Service. It will take place...
Massachusetts Allows for Terrorism Exclusion in Commercial Insurance
Feb 7 2011 // Commercial property insurers in Massachusetts will be allowed to exclude terrorism coverage from commercial fire insurance policies under a new law signed by Gov. Deval Patrick. The law modifies the standard fire insurance...
Businesses, Charities Call for End to Florida’s ‘Hurricane Tax’
Feb 7 2011 // A coalition of Florida charitable and business groups is pressing the state to eliminate assessments charged all policyholders to subsidize the state-backed insurance provider and hurricane claims fund. In a letter to Gov....
Climate Change Link to Insurance Losses Decades Away
Feb 7 2011 // Tropical cyclones are expected to cause more damage in the United States and Asia but it could be more than a century before insurers can point to climate change as a factor in losses from storms, scientists say. In a...
Climate Change Link to Insurance Losses Decades Away
Feb 7 2011 // Tropical cyclones are expected to cause more damage in the United States and Asia but it could be more than a century before insurers can point to climate change as a factor in losses from storms, scientists say. In a...
Wildfires Destroy Homes in Western Australia
Feb 7 2011 // Wildfires tore through the suburbs of an Australian city on Sunday, destroying a number of homes, news reports and authorities said. There were no reports of injuries. Two fires fanned by hot summer winds were burning in...
Geographer Recreates ‘The Great Louisiana Hurricane of 1812’
Feb 3 2011 // Nearly 200 years before Hurricane Katrina, a major storm hit the coast of Louisiana just west of New Orleans. Because the War of 1812 was simultaneously raging, the hurricane’s strength, direction and other...
Texas Windstorm Insurance Assoc. to Begin Paying Commissions Monthly
Jan 28 2011 // The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association, the property insurer of last resort along the Texas Gulf Coast, reports that in the second quarter of 2011 it will begin paying agents’ commissions monthly. TWIA will...
Massachusetts Allows for Terrorism Exclusion in Commercial Insurance
Jan 28 2011 // Commercial property insurers in Massachusetts will be allowed to exclude terrorism coverage from commercial fire insurance policies under a new law signed by Gov. Deval Patrick. The law modifies the standard fire insurance...
Chubb Reports Q4, 2010 Results; Expects Australia Flood Losses
Jan 28 2011 // The Chubb Corp. reported that net income in the fourth quarter of 2010 was $620 million, compared to $695 million in the fourth quarter of 2009. For the year ended Dec. 31, 2010, net income was $2.2 billion, the same as in...
Oklahoma Lawmaker, Manufactured Housing Assoc. Tackling Tornado Safety
Jan 27 2011 // Oklahoma State Rep. Pat Ownbey and the Manufactured Housing Association of Oklahoma Board of Directors’ are seeking to develop sample emergency plans for mobile home communities to prevent deaths in the event of a...
Swiss Re Calls for Increased Role for Public-private Partnerships in Disaster Relief
Jan 27 2011 // Swiss Re notes that the “increasing severity and frequency of natural catastrophes are driving up the cost of disaster relief, especially in developing and emerging markets as they are hurt the most and prepared the...
RMS Analyzes Terrorist Attack at Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport
Jan 27 2011 // Risk Management Solutions has analyzed the circumstances pertaining to the bombing at Domodedovo airport in Moscow on Monday, which killed 35 people and wounded 180. RMS said the “attack was perpetrated by a lone...
Mitigation Consensus
Jan 24 2011 // The Griffith Insurance Education Foundation recently brought together industry, government and academic leaders — many from disaster-prone coastal states such as California, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi for a...
