Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett on Insurance Economics and 2004 Results
Mar 8 2005 // By Chairman Warren Buffett’s own admission, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. did not have one of its best years in 2004. Last year, Berkshire’s book-value gain of 10.5% fell short of the S&P 500 Index’s 10.9%...
90 Days Until Hurricane Season: Fla. Legislators Hope to Solve Problems
Mar 7 2005 // With less than 90 days to go until the 2005 hurricane season begins, Florida legislators are scrambling to solve a wide-variety of hurricane-related problems: Getting insurance claims settled; solving problems with...
Hurricane Experts Unsure About 2005
Mar 7 2005 // Support Windstorm Impact Reduction Program Hurricane expert Max May-field and Rep. Jim Davis attempted to make long-range predictions about future events that will affect the Florida insurance industry during the annual...
S&P REPORT SAYS HURRICANE LOSSES PUT PRESSURE ON INSURERS’ EQUITY:
Mar 7 2005 // The shareholders’ equity of many insurers and reinsurers is coming under greater pressure than anticipated as P/C losses from the 2004 hurricane season continue to rise with new estimates, according to a report by...
Killer Tsunamis and the Marine Insurance Market
Mar 7 2005 // Early in the morning on Dec. 26, 2004, opposing subterranean tectonic plates deep beneath the Indian Ocean floor shifted in violent unison along a line about 300 miles long. The energy released was on par with a 50-kiloton...
NCOIL Task Force on Terrorism Backs TRIA’s Reinstatement
Mar 4 2005 // With the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act expiring at the end of this year, the National Conference of Insurance Legislators Task Force on Terrorism agreed during meetings in Hilton Head, S.C. to resurrect a resolution...
14 South Floridians Indicted in Dade County for Filing False FEMA Claims
Mar 4 2005 // Fourteen South Floridaians were indicted this week for filing false claims to obtain Federal Emergency Management Authority grants and charged with federal wire and mail fraud. Federal legislators meeting in Washington...
Vanguard Fire & Casualty to Meet with Fla. CFO Regarding Hurricane Claims
Mar 3 2005 // On Thursday morning, Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher held a news conference and expressed his desire to meet “eyeball-to-eyeball” with the heads of insurance companies to discuss open...
Study: About 11,000 Would Die in Tokyo Quake
Mar 1 2005 // About 11,000 people would die and Japan as a whole would suffer about $1.06 trillion in economic damage if a major earthquake were to strike Tokyo, a government disaster prevention panel said. The panel made its estimates...
Homeowners Insurance Costs Up by 2.5% in 2005; Smallest Increase in 6 years
Mar 1 2005 // Good news for homeowners this year came from the Insurance Information Institute, which projected that the cost of insuring homes will rise by only 2.5 percent in 2005, the smallest increase in six years. The projected...
Fla. CFO Reports Dates, Locations for Town Hall Meetings in Hurricane-Impacted Areas
Feb 28 2005 // Dates and locations for town hall meetings to assist Floridians still recovering from last year’s hurricanes have been announced by Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher. The first meeting will be...
Ala. Commission Sets March 25 Deadline to Settle Hurricane Ivan Damage Claims
Feb 24 2005 // Insurance companies with unsettled claims from Hurricane Ivan have been given until March 25 to pay policyholders, or explain to Insurance Commissioner Walter Bell why the claims have not been paid. Once claims are...
2004 Hurricane Season White Paper Says Cat Models Need to be Improved
Feb 22 2005 // The ReAdvisory group of Carvill, a leading specialty reinsurance intermediary, has released a white paper, the “2004 Hurricane Season in Review,” that examines the recent weather patterns and hurricane damage...
Insurers Claim Mitigation Efforts Complement, But Do Not Replace the Need for TRIA
Feb 22 2005 // Officials in the Department of Homeland Security have introduced a proposal to mitigate losses from a future terrorist attack by establishing corporate security standards, or “best practices,” that will help...
Citizens Lost First Round; Stalling Payments Until After Another Court Decision
Feb 21 2005 // Citizens Property Insurance Co. is in the limelight again, this time because it is refusing to pay property losses, even after losing a South Florida appeals court decision. Hurricane Irene brought both wind and water when...
TRIA Renewal Remains Uncertain
Feb 21 2005 // Efforts to extend the federal terrorism insurance backstop, set to expire at the end of the year, face significant hurdles despite widespread belief among carriers that such a program is necessary to prevent massive market...
Hurricane Victims to Submit Multiple Deductible Information
Feb 21 2005 // Homeowners eligible to receive compensation for multiple hurricane deducti-bles have been called on by Florida’s CFO Tom Gallagher to file their applications for relief so they are received in Tallahassee before...
GOV. EASLEY SUGGESTS ‘RAINY DAY FUND’ FOR HURRICANE RELIEF
Feb 21 2005 // With damage estimates after last year’s hurricanes approaching $300 million, Gov. Mike Easley has asked legislators to approve the expenditure of $61 million from the North Carolina Rainy Day Fund. Easley’s...
S&P Report Says Hurricane Losses Puts Pressure on Insurers’ Equity
Feb 18 2005 // The shareholders’ equity of many insurers and reinsurers is coming under greater pressure than anticipated as P/C losses from the 2004 hurricane season continue to rise with new estimates, according to a report by...
March 1 Deadline to Apply for Multiple-Deductible Relief
Feb 18 2005 // March 1 is the deadline for Florida homeowners who paid multiple hurricane deductibles to apply for relief from the state according to Tom Gallagher, Chief Financial Officer. The program was created to avoid the terrible...
