Latest Catastrophe Headlines

All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.

TSR Predicts Active Atlantic Hurricane Season

Dec 4 2001 // The London-based tropical Storm Risk Consortium (TSR) has issued a bulletin predicting that the number of Atlantic storms in 2002 will be above average, and that at least two hurricanes will strike the U.S. “TSR...

Munich Re Posts $1 Billion 3Q Loss, Comments on Terrorism Coverage

Nov 30 2001 // Munich Re, the world’s largest reinsurer, suffered a commensurately large loss in the 3rd quarter of €1.2 billion ($1.05 billion) after tax. In addition to the estimated €2.1 billion ($1.85 billion) losses...

House Passes Terrorism Reinsurance Bill

Nov 30 2001 // The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Terrorism Risk Protection Act (HR 3210) by one vote of 227-193 on the afternoon of Nov. 29. According to the Independent Insurance Agents of America (IIAA), the legislation...

Sustained Consolidation Predicted as a Result

Nov 29 2001 // The insurance industry has entered a period of sustained consolidation, both domestically and internationally, as a result of the Sept. 11 attacks, according to a year-end forecast by the Transaction Services group at...

U.S. Financial Firms, Law Enforcement Seek Ways to Track Terrorists

Nov 28 2001 // The leading U.S. financial firms and law enforcement agencies are mulling over an agreement that would give authorities sweeping power to track terrorists using the financial system, the Wall Street Journal reported. The...

House Likely to Move on Terrorism Bill

Nov 20 2001 // The House will move swiftly after the Thanksgiving recess to put into law a terrorism insurance bill aimed at preventing an economic crisis if coverage is not available after Jan. 1. According to The Washington Post,...

Insurers Seek Permission From State Regulators to Exclude Terrorism

Nov 19 2001 // In the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorism attacks, insurance companies have begun seeking permission from state regulators to exclude terrorism coverage from a number of policies in 2002, including home, auto and life....

S&P: Company Ratings Could Suffer in Federal-State Squeeze on Terrorism Risk

Nov 13 2001 // Commercial insurers face a potentially untenable situation if the federal government fails to pass legislation that would help cushion terrorism costs to the industry by the end of November, and if state insurance...

IIAA Looks at Terrorism Bill Vote as Momentum Builder

Nov 13 2001 // A vote by the House Financial Services Committee last week to approve legislation to aid insurance consumers following future terrorist attacks serves as a momentum builder on Capitol Hill, according to Independent...

The View from Up There-Insurers Embrace Space Age Technologies

Nov 12 2001 // The key witness in a recent crop fraud case turned out to be a camera. In June 2001, a U.S. District judge in Arkansas ruled against several farmers accused of filing false crop insurance claims totaling approximately...

NAIC SPRV Model Provides Added Tool to Manage Risk for Natural Catastrophes

Nov 5 2001 // The National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ (NAIC) adoption of the Special Purpose Reinsurance Vehicle (SPRV) Model Act will provide a template for states to create legislation that will enable onshore...

Industry Pays First $10 Billion of Future Terror Claims in Latest Fed Plan

Nov 5 2001 // The Bush administration and Congressional leaders hammered out a new version of a plan to provide reinsurance assistance to the U.S. insurance industry in the wake of the September 11th terrorist attacks, although...

NAMIC Addresses Capital Markets Panel Examining Availability of Terrorism Insurance

Nov 2 2001 // The executive vice president & general manager of North Carolina Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company will address the House Financial Services Capital Markets Subcommittee today on behalf of the National Association...

NAMIC Board of Directors Votes to Endorse Offshore Property Catastrophe Facility

Oct 31 2001 // The National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC) Board of Directors voted Oct. 24 to endorse an offshore property catastrophe facility that will be available exclusively to member companies. Renaissance...

NAMIC Launches Catastrophe Facility for Member Companies

Oct 30 2001 // The National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC) Board of Directors voted Wednesday to endorse an offshore property catastrophe facility that will be available exclusively to member companies. Renaissance...

Senators Critical of Bush Assistance Plan

Oct 29 2001 // Senators from both parties criticized the Bush administration’s proposed three-year assistance program for the insurance industry to help it manage terrorism risk. According to an AFX report, while some Democrats...

NAIC Outlines Principles for Federal Role in Terrorist Insurance Coverage

Oct 29 2001 // In Congressional testimony, National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) President and Kansas Insurance Commissioner Kathleen Sebelius outlined the NAIC’s suggested role for the federal government in...

Will Reinsurance Rebound from Terrorist Strikes in the U.S.’

Oct 29 2001 // If the nautical term best applied to the reinsurance industry last year this time would have been “Steady as she goes,” after the catastrophe that struck the U.S. on Sept. 11, the French term “sauve qui...

Federal Government, Insurers Debate Plan to Cover Future Terrorist Acts

Oct 29 2001 // The push is on for creation of a federal plan to deal with future terrorist attacks. The Bush Administration has come up with an alternative to the insurance industry’s initial proposal, which called for a terrorist...

IIAA Calls for Passage of Remedy to Terrorism Reinsurance Problems

Oct 26 2001 // In testimony submitted on Capitol Hill, the Independent Insurance Agents of America (IIAA) strongly urged Congress to pass legislation to remedy the availability of terrorism reinsurance in the wake of the Sept. 11...