Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Mass. AG Calls for 18% Cut in Home Insurance Rates Charged by FAIR Plan
Oct 12 2007 // Homeowners insurance rates for many in Massachusetts insured through the state’s secondary market insurer, the FAIR Plan, would drop 18 percent if Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley gets her...
Hiscox Launches Combined War, Terrorism, Political Violence Cover
Oct 12 2007 // The world is a dangerous place, and sometimes a very confusing one. Specialist insurer Hiscox has met the challenge of trying to separate outbreaks of “war, terrorism and political violence” as they...
AIR Raises Typhoon Krosa Loss Estimates – $200 to $600 Million
Oct 12 2007 // AIR Worldwide’s preliminary estimates of insured losses caused by Typhoon Krosa originally assessed the damage in Taiwan (See IJ web site Oct. 11). However, the storm subsequently crossed the South China Sea, and has...
Agents Fear N.Y. Coast Insurance Market Worse; Pols Weigh Options
Oct 11 2007 // New York lawmakers are considering taking action to improve coastal insurance availability while insurance agents are telling them they fear market restrictions are worsening. Insurance companies, meanwhile, claim the...
Property/Casualty Insurers to Pay $1.13 Billion in 3Q Cat Claims
Oct 11 2007 // U.S. property/casualty insurers are expected to pay homeowners and businesses an estimated $1.125 billion for third-quarter property losses resulting from a total of six catastrophes in 11 states, according to preliminary...
RAND Study Finds Taxpayers, Policyholders Benefit from Terrorism Insurance Backstop
Oct 10 2007 // Taxpayers save money and businesses are better protected with the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) in place than if the act is allowed to expire, according to a recent study by RAND Corp. The analysis found that TRIA,...
Baltimore Feels Small Earthquake
Oct 10 2007 // The U.S. Geological Survey’s National Earthquake Information Center says a minor earthquake was sensed near Baltimore, Md. NEIC Geologist Angel Gutierrez says preliminary estimates put the quake at a magnitude of...
Calif. Earthquake Bill Receives Criticism, Could Raise Rates
Oct 10 2007 // Critics of a bill recently signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger say more than 760,000 California homeowners who buy earthquake insurance through a state-run authority could see their premiums rise . But the measure’s...
Proponents push plans for natural catastrophe insurance solutions
Oct 8 2007 // The need for solutions to address insurance costs and availability in natural catastrophe-vulnerable U.S. coastal regions — including a federal safety net — was the general theme at a public hearing in Mobile,...
From the Big Apple to the Corn State
Oct 8 2007 // From the executive office of the Greater New York Mutual Insurance Companies on Madison Avenue in the heart of New York City, Warren Heck, chairman and chief executive officer, can see Illinois. “It’s...
House-passed flood insurance bill provides optional windstorm coverage
Oct 8 2007 // The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a measure updating the nation’s flood insurance program that will give homeowners the option of purchasing windstorm coverage as part of their flood policy. The...
News Currents
Oct 8 2007 // Proponents push plans for natural catastrophe insurance solutions Federal backstop proposals aired at NAIC public hearing in Alabama The need for solutions to address insurance costs and availability in natural...
NATURAL CATASTROPHES
Oct 8 2007 // 2006 MARKET SHARE For insurers in Texas BROOKE CORP. LAWSUITS Firm says it has not misled agents
Editor’s Note: Wind, water and legislative storm
Oct 8 2007 // More than two years have gone by, but no one can forget the devastating effects Hurricane Katrina had on the Gulf Coast. Yet legislators and industry leaders continue to debate how to prevent future problems associated...
News Currents
Oct 8 2007 // House-passed flood insurance bill provides optional windstorm coverage The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a measure updating the nation’s flood insurance program that will give homeowners the option of...
N.Y. Proposes ‘Rainy Day’ Catastrophe Insurance Fund With Eventual Tax Break
Oct 5 2007 // Insurance companies providing homeowners, business and other property insurance in New York State would be required to create a catastrophe reserve fund to help pay claims caused by hurricanes and other natural disasters...
Tornado Cuts a 20-mile Path of Damage in Central Iowa
Oct 4 2007 // Officials were inspecting damage Monday, Oct. 1st from a tornado that cut a 20-mile long path across four central Iowa counties. The tornado dropped out of storms that developed late Sunday afternoon, bringing high wind,...
For Small Fla. Insurer, Sunshine State Brings Storm Clouds
Oct 3 2007 // From “Happy Days” to “The Perfect Storm” is how one Florida insurance executive describes her state’s turbulent and defining years between 2003 and 2007 – and she isn’t talking...
Alaska Fire Authorities Launch Interior Wildfire Protection Plan
Oct 2 2007 // Alaska forestry officials are planning a series of prescribed burns to torch debris piles that have built up over the past three years. It’s part of a wildfire protection effort being implemented by the Alaska...
Magnitude 7.4 Quake Strikes South of New Zealand
Oct 1 2007 // A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.4 occurred south of New Zealand on Sunday and there may be a chance of tsunamis, Japanese monitors said. There was no immediate report of injuries, damage or...
