Latest Europe Headlines

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

Carnival, Tourism Industry, Insurers Tally Cost of Cruise Ship Accident

Jan 17 2012 // The cruise ship industry faces an uphill task to restore confidence among customers spooked by images of the stricken Costa Concordia flipped on its side in Italian waters on Monday and could suffer a hit to sales in a key...

2012 Off to Bad Weather Start for P/C Insurers

Jan 13 2012 // A tree lays in a yard after a possible tornado roared through Icard, N.C,. on Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2012.Damaging hailstorms in Australia. Unprecedented tornadoes in the southeastern United States. Constant windstorms in...

XL Insurance Combines Property, Asset Protection; 6 Engineering Heads Named

Jan 11 2012 // XL Group plc’s Insurance segment has combined its Property Underwriting and XL Global Asset Protection Services (XL GAPS) engineers to form one unified team, which consists of “nearly 200 risk engineers...

Ironshore Expands Environmental Products to Europe

Jan 9 2012 // Ironshore Environmental products are now available in Europe through Ironshore Europe Limited. The products cover a broad spectrum of issues for many industries, including manufacturing, engineering, construction, energy,...

Windstorm Andrea, First of 2012, Causes Damage in Europe: AIR Report

Jan 9 2012 // According to catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide, Windstorm Andrea passed through the U.K. earlier this week, fast on the heels of Windstorm Ulli, which brought widespread travel and power disruptions to Scotland. The...

Windstorm Ulli is Latest to Batter Northwest Europe; AIR Analysis

Jan 5 2012 // Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide’s report on Windstorm Ulli notes that it is “passing through Scandinavia and is expected to dissipate as it moves over the Baltic Sea today. “A class 2 weather...

Breast Implant Scandal Shows Regulators in Dark on Tracking Risks

Dec 30 2011 // Long before the latest global breast implant scare, American health officials were toying with the idea of building a registry that would track patients with implants. The registry would give a better idea of the number of...

Ratings: Transsib Re, Tokio Marine Pacific, MAPFRE Panama, Union Nationale, Sovereign (NZ), Labuan Re, Tugu, ARIG

Dec 22 2011 // A.M. Best Europe – Rating Services Limited has upgraded the issuer credit rating to “bb+” from “bb” and affirmed the financial strength rating of B (Fair) of Russia’s OJSC Transsiberian...

Best’s Rating Actions Spurred by EU Failure to Produce Debt Crisis Solution

Dec 21 2011 // Although the recent summit of the 27 countries of the European Union did manage to come up with a plan to control budget deficits – in the future – it “took no clear short term actions to address the debt...

Insurers May Open ‘Black Box’ Telematics to Escape Gender Ban

Dec 21 2011 // Motor [auto] insurers seeking to get around a European ban on charging male drivers more than women are turning to innovative black box technology that could trigger an upheaval in the way car insurance is...

Best Affirms Lloyd’s Syndicate 2001 Ratings; Amlin AG, Amlin plc; Outlook Stable

Dec 20 2011 // A.M. Best Europe – Rating Services Limited has affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of ‘A+’ (Superior) and issuer credit rating (ICR) of “aa-” of Lloyd’s Syndicate 2001, which is...

Storm Joachim Hits Northern Europe; AIR Sees No ‘Significant’ Losses

Dec 20 2011 // Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide, has reported on winter storm Joachim, which developed over the Atlantic and became a severe extra-tropical cyclone over Western Europe late last week. Central pressure went as low...

Ratings Roundup: MAPFRE USA, AXA US,

Dec 19 2011 // A.M. Best Co. has downgraded the financial strength rating to ‘A’ (Excellent) from ‘A+’ (Superior) and issuer credit ratings to “a+” from “aa-” of MAPFRE USA Group following...

Best Affirms Ratings of Inter Hannover UK; Outlook Positive

Dec 19 2011 // A.M. Best Europe – Rating Services Limited has affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of ‘A’ (Excellent) and the issuer credit rating (ICR) of “a+” of UK-based International Insurance...

Best Places MAPFRE PRAICO Group’s Ratings on Review/Negative

Dec 19 2011 // A.M. Best Co. has placed under review with negative implications the financial strength rating of ‘A’ (Excellent) and issuer credit ratings of “a+” of MAPFRE PRAICO Group (MPG) and its members,...

Best Affirms Aviva’s Ratings; Places them on Review/Negative

Dec 16 2011 // Following its announcements, made earlier this week, A.M. Best Europe – Rating Services Limited is continuing to take rating actions on a number of European (re)insurers, as a result of the continued negative...

Best Downgrades Generali, Main Subs Ratings; Keeps on Review/Negative

Dec 15 2011 // As a result of the continued negative developments regarding the euro zone sovereign debt crisis, A.M. Best Europe – Rating Services Limited has downgraded the financial strength rating (FSR) to ‘A’...

Best Downgrades MAPFRE RE’s Ratings; Placed on Review/Negative

Dec 15 2011 // A.M. Best Europe – Rating Services Limited announced that “as a result of the continued negative developments regarding the euro zone sovereign debt crisis,” it has downgraded the financial strength rating to...

Best Downgrades Allianz and Subs Issuer Credit Ratings; Affirms FSR

Dec 15 2011 // A.M. Best Europe – Rating Services Limited has reacted to the ongoing sovereign debt crisis in the euro zone, which it describes as “continued negative developments” with a number of rating actions, starting...

Europe’s Austerity Zeal Risks Killing the Patient

Dec 14 2011 // Europe’s “no pain no gain” attitude to solving its sovereign crisis risks exacerbating the bloc’s problems, choking off the very growth needed to raise the money to pay down the debt. From Athens to...