Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Canada’s Insurers Respond Quickly to Wildfire Crisis
Jul 23 2009 // Insurers in British Columbia “are acting quickly to assist those whose homes and businesses have been affected by the forest fires currently raging in the province,” notes a bulletin from the Insurance Bureau...
S&P Lowers Ratings on 6 Cat Bonds; Puts 4 on CreditWatch/Negative
Jul 21 2009 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services announced that it has lowered its ratings on six natural peril catastrophe bonds issued in 2007 and 2008, as listed below. The bulletin said: “We lowered our ratings by...
Web Site Estimates Damages if Old Storms Returned Today
Jul 20 2009 // This month marks the four-year anniversary of Hurricane Dennis, a Category 3 storm that slammed into the panhandle of Florida with sustained winds of 120 m.p.h. While Dennis inflicted more than $2.2 billion in damage in...
Hawaii Could Tap Hurricane Emergency Fund to Shore-Up Budget
Jul 20 2009 // A Hawaii judge has blocked Gov. Linda Lingle from forcing thousands of public employees to take three unpaid days off per month, dealing her a setback in efforts to tame a huge state budget gap. Unions opposed to the...
Further Challenges to Anti-Concurrent Cause Clauses
Jul 20 2009 // Hurricane Katrina brought the question of the validity and applicability of ACCs to the forefront. Hurricane Katrina, in addition to causing unprecedented damage and destruction, added significantly to the workload of...
Web Site Estimates Damages If Old Hurricanes Were to Return Today
Jul 20 2009 // This month marks the four-year anniversary of Hurricane Dennis, a Category 3 storm that slammed into the panhandle of Florida with sustained winds of 120 m.p.h. While Dennis inflicted more than $2.2 billion in damage in...
AIR Analyzes New Zealand Quake; Tsunami Warning
Jul 16 2009 // According to catastrophe risk modeling firm AIR Worldwide, a major earthquake struck off the southwestern coast of New Zealand on Wednesday July 15 at 8:22 p.m. local time (9:22 a.m. UTC). The United States Geological...
2003 San Diego Wildfires Cost $2.5 Billion
Jul 15 2009 // By looking at factors not typically analyzed after a major wildfire, San Diego State University (SDSU) researchers found that the actual economic impact of the 2003 San Diego wildfires was $2.45 billion, over $2 billion...
AIR Analyzes China Quake
Jul 13 2009 // According to catastrophe risk modeling firm AIR Worldwide, at 7:19 p.m. local time (11:19 UTC) on Thursday, July 9, a moderate earthquake struck China’s southwest Yunnan province. The USGS issued a moment magnitude...
S&P Raises Validus Outlook to ‘Positive;’ IPC Outlook Stays Negative
Jul 13 2009 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has revised its outlook on Bermuda-based insurance and reinsurance holding company Validus Holdings Ltd. to positive from stable, and has affirmed its ‘BBB-‘...
Hawaii Could Tap Hurricane Emergency Fund to Shore-Up Budget
Jul 10 2009 // A Hawaii judge has blocked Gov. Linda Lingle from forcing thousands of public employees to take three unpaid days off per month, dealing her a setback in efforts to tame a huge state budget gap. Unions opposed to the...
Marsh Finds UK Firms lacking Knowledge of Overseas Risks
Jul 10 2009 // New research by Marsh has determined that “British organizations are more concerned during the recession by overseas risks affecting their supply chains and business rather than by threats closer to home.” In...
Web Site Estimates Hurricane Damages If Old Storms Returned Today
Jul 10 2009 // Today marks the four-year anniversary of Hurricane Dennis, a Category 3 storm that slammed into the panhandle of Florida with sustained winds of 120 m.p.h. While Dennis inflicted more than $2.2 billion in damage in 2005...
Developing El Nino Could Suppress Atlantic Hurricanes
Jul 9 2009 // El Nino weather anomaly has developed and it may not be as strong as the killer which struck more than a decade ago, the U.S. Climate Prediction Center said Thursday. The CPC, an office under the National Oceanic...
Few Complaints from Texas 2008 Hurricane Claims
Jul 8 2009 // The Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) reported it has received a total of 1,201 justified complaints from the nearly 900,000 claims that originated from Hurricanes Ike and Dolly in 2008. The complaints represent less...
New Rhode Island Law Saves Residents Money When Storms Loom
Jul 6 2009 // A new law could save homeowners money when a hurricane off the Atlantic coast churns up weather strong enough to damage homes in Rhode Island but never reaches the state. Legislation signed last month by Gov. Don Carcieri...
Reinsurance Market Remains Stable; Rates Steady, Reports Guy Carpenter
Jul 1 2009 // Upward pressure on property/catastrophe reinsurance rates in the U.S. eased at the July 1, 2009 renewal, as capacity in the market remained sufficient without being abundant, according to a briefing published today by Guy...
Cat Bond Market Still Seeking Collateral Solution
Jun 29 2009 // Insurers are still seeking a universal solution to weaknesses in catastrophe bonds exposed by Lehman Brothers’ collapse, though structural improvements have helped push sales past $1 billion this year. This...
U.S. House Panel to Bring Homeowners Insurance Crisis Hearing to Florida
Jun 26 2009 // A subcommitee of the U.S. House of Representatives that is looking into trouble spots in the country’s homeowner insurance market is coming to Florida in July. House Financial Services Oversight and Investigations...
South Texas Brokers Charged with Multi-Million Dollar Insurance Fraud
Jun 25 2009 // Two licensed insurance brokers with offices in the Brownsville, Texas, area have been charged with conspiracy, mail fraud and wire fraud in a multi-million dollar scheme, according to U.S. Attorney Tim Johnson. The U.S....
