Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
ACIC Recommends Homeowners Review Insurance Coverage as Wildfire Season Begins
May 7 2004 // With wild fires raging once again, the Association of California Insurance Companies encouraged homeowners to inventory their possessions and review and update their insurance policies. “It appears that California...
Questions of Coverage for Terrorism
May 6 2004 // It seems like almost every day there is a major news story concerning a terrorist act in the Middle East, Europe, or Asia. While the United States has been largely immune to the almost daily attacks of domestic terrorism...
Tenn. Senators Announce $10.9 Million in HUD Disaster Assistance on Tornado Anniversary
May 6 2004 // U.S. Senators Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) and Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) this week announced that the City of Jackson will receive $10.9 million from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to help rebuild public housing...
October Wildfire Survivors File Class Action Suit Against Insurance Companies
May 5 2004 // A class-action lawsuit was filed on May 5 against four major insurance companies who write homeowner’s insurance in California. The lawsuit filed against State Farm, Allstate, Farmers and Safeco, alleges that the...
IINC: Half of California Homes Face Wildfire Dangers
May 5 2004 // More than half of California’s 12.5 million homes face wildfire dangers that pose a financial loss potential well in excess of $106 billion, according to state fire statistics. California Department of Forestry...
PCI Cites ISO Action as Supporting TRIA Renewal
May 4 2004 // The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America has issued a comment citing the call by the Insurance Services Office, Inc. (ISO) to ask state regulators to approve conditional commercial policy contract language...
ISO Files Conditional Terrorism Policy Endorsements
May 3 2004 // Insurance Services Office Inc. (ISO) has asked state regulators to approve conditional commercial policy contract language to address terrorism coverage should Congress not extend the federal terrorism insurance backstop...
U.S. Treasury Department Selects Benfield’s Paragon to Administer Terrorism Risk Insurance Program
Apr 29 2004 // Independent reinsurance intermediary Benfield announced that the U.S. Treasury Department has selected its subsidiary, Paragon Strategic Solutions Inc., a provider of reinsurance administration and asset recovery services,...
RMS Study Shows Risk From CAT Events for WC, Life, Health Insurers
Apr 29 2004 // Risk Management Solutions Inc. (RMS), a provider of products and services for catastrophe risk management, released the findings of an in-depth study that provides workers’ compensation, life, and health insurers...
AIR’s Severe Thunderstorm Model Key Component to New Peril-Based Fla. Homeowners Rates
Apr 29 2004 // For the first time, homeowners rates that include a severe thunderstorm component based on sophisticated catastrophe modeling have been included as part of a rating plan subject to approval by state regulators. Florida...
IIA San Antonio to Host Windstorm Workshop
Apr 29 2004 // The Independent Insurance Agents of San Antonio announced it will host a windstorm insurance underwriting workshop in conjunction with the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association. The workshop is scheduled for June 4, 2004,...
Oklahoma Hailstorms Rack Up $75 Million in Damages
Apr 29 2004 // Hailstorms that hit central Oklahoma a week ago caused more than $75 million in damage, according to preliminary estimates released by the Oklahoma Insurance Department. The Associated Press reported that an estimate of...
Industry Asks House to Extend TRIA
Apr 28 2004 // Congress should act this year to extend the national terrorism insurance backstop beyond Dec. 31, 2005, because the private market remains unable to withstand potentially catastrophic losses resulting from terrorist...
California Commissioner Launches Team to Investigate Wildfire Insurance
Apr 28 2004 // A team of attorneys and consumer advocates will be in place by week’s end to investigate complaints by hundreds of victims of last fall’s Southern California wildfires that their insurance companies...
Cat Bond Market Grew 42% Reports Guy Carpenter
Apr 27 2004 // According to findings from a new joint study by Guy Carpenter & Company, Inc. and MMC Securities Corp., the catastrophe bond market experienced substantial growth in 2003, as cat bonds remained an important complement...
Feds Stymie Insurers’ Claims Against Alleged Terrorists
Apr 27 2004 // U.S. officials and insurance companies representing Sept. 11 victims are locked in an unusual legal standoff, stemming from the government’s refusal to admit it has the alleged mastermind of the attacks in...
N.C. Residents Urged to Exercise Caution in Aftermath of Hurricanes; Atlantic Basin Forecast Released
Apr 27 2004 // Hurricane Isabel was directly or indirectly responsible for 50 deaths nationwide and caused an estimated $170 million of property damage in North Carolina last September. Experts predict 14 named storms and eight...
Sen. Lautenberg to Hold NYC Briefing on Doing Business with States that Sponsor Terrorism
Apr 22 2004 // U.S. Senator Frank R. Lautenberg and New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr. will host a press conference today, April 22, at 1:30 PM, to announce an amendment to the upcoming FSC-ETI bill to close a loophole...
Consumer Study Disputes Need for Renewal of Terrorism Reinsurance
Apr 22 2004 // The nation’s terrorism insurance law is not necessary to ensure the availability of affordable terrorism coverage for most areas of the country and should be allowed to expire, according to a study released by the...
Unlicensed Contractors Targeted to Protect California Wildfire Victims
Apr 21 2004 // Fifteen people have been charged with felony unlicensed contracting after an undercover operation to prevent fraud against victims of Southern California wildfires, officials said April 19. “We are sending a message...
