Latest Catastrophe Headlines

All North Carolina Homeowners Could Pay If Insurers, Beach Plan Fall Short

Jun 24 2009 // Every insured homeowner in North Carolina could shoulder the cost of rebuilding if a massive hurricane hits under a deal taking shape in the Legislature. The legislation (HB1305), expected to be detailed in a House...

Texas Restructures Windstorm Insurance Fund

Jun 22 2009 // Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Friday signed into law bills to restructure the state’s windstorm insurance fund, the only property insurer for homeowners and business in 14 coastal counties, and provide financial help to...

New Rhode Island Law Saves Residents Money When Storms Loom

Jun 19 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 week by Gov. Don Carcieri...

Earthquake Monitors Headed to Midwest

Jun 18 2009 // More than 40 earthquake recording stations will be placed around the state and in Iowa as part of a federal initiative overseen by Missouri University of Science and Technology. The seismic monitors join another 400...

Momentous Insurance, Fireman’s Fund Urge California Wildfire Preparedness

Jun 17 2009 // Momentous Insurance Brokerage of Van Nuys, Calif., has partnered with Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co. and the Burbank Fire Department to help protect Southern Californians from wildfires. In 2006, Momentous secured a...

New Homeowners Earthquake Rating Plan Available

Jun 16 2009 // Wheaton, Ill.-based American Association of Insurance Services (AAIS) has developed a new rating plan for adding earthquake coverage to policies based on standardized forms, manual rules, and rating information provided...

It Figures

Jun 15 2009 // $9.3 Million An Arkansas lawyer who controlled an escrow account for a settlement in a case involving the Bisys Group Inc. insurance services firm has pleaded guilty to charges of stealing more than $9 million from the...

Texas Windstorm Insurance Bill Passes

Jun 15 2009 // Texas lawmakers on the first day of the 2009 hurricane season and the last day of the Texas legislative session passed a bill – HB 4409 – aimed at recapitalizing the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association...

2004/2005 Hurricane Seasons Provided Unprecedented Claims Data

Jun 15 2009 // Cat Modelers and Insurers Applying Lessons Learned Since Hurricane Katrina wreaked its damage in 2005, catastrophe modeling firms and the property and casualty insurance industry have learned more about the scientific and...

Jun 15 2009 // 5 Hurricane forecasters at Colorado State University have lowered their prediction for the number of hurricanes they expect to hit the Atlantic Basin in 2009 to five, down from an April forecast of six hurricanes. The...

Texas Windstorm Insurer Extends Residential Waiver Surcharge

Jun 12 2009 // The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association recently notified agents that its waiver surcharge program for residential dwellings has been extended to Sept. 1, 2009. June 1 marked the third anniversary of the residential...

How Actuaries Help P/C Insurers Navigate Uncertain Markets

Jun 11 2009 // Property/casualty insurers and reinsurers rely more than ever on the expertise of actuaries at a point in the cycle when the market is neither softening nor hardening, attendees at the CAS Seminar on Reinsurance were told...

Caribbean Governments Renew Catastrophe Group Coverage

Jun 8 2009 // The Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) announced that all 16 Caribbean member governments have renewed their catastrophe policies with for the 2009/10 policy period. “Member governments were able...

RMS Completes Micro-Insurance Quake Project for Rural China

Jun 8 2009 // Risk Management Solutions has completed a new quantitative analysis, which “reveals that a micro-insurance system could be both technically and commercially viable to provide cover against catastrophic earthquake...

Forecasters: Fewer Atlantic Hurricanes Predicted

Jun 5 2009 // Hurricane forecasters at Colorado State University have lowered their prediction for the number of hurricanes they expect to hit the Atlantic Basin in 2009 to five, down from an April forecast of six hurricanes. According...

California Earthquake Authority CFO Named CFO of the Year

Jun 3 2009 // Tim Richison, chief financial officer of the California Earthquake Authority, has been named CFO of the Year by a regional business journal. Judges cited Richison’s achievements as part of the original team at CEA....

New Aon Terrorism Threat Map Shows Shift in Sphere of Conflict

Jun 3 2009 // Aon has just issued the latest version of its “Terrorism Threat Map.” The most significant change from previous maps shows a “shift in Islamist terrorist activity from the Middle East to South...

Tornado-Destroyed Kansas Town to Get $4.4M for Infrastructure

Jun 3 2009 // The southwest Kansas town of Greensburg, destroyed two years ago by a massive tornado, will receive $4.4 million in federal grants to help repair streets and build a new business park. The U.S. Department of...

P/C Insurers Apply Lessons from Hurricane Katrina

Jun 2 2009 // The property/casualty insurance industry is employing advancements in catastrophe modeling and considering the impact of the creation of a national catastrophe fund as it applies lessons learned from Hurricane...

Declarations

Jun 1 2009 // 10 Years “Unless there’s some Einstein out there that knows something none of us do, the prevailing thought among the researchers is that a good 24-hour forecast of intensity change is a goal, a stretch goal,...