Flooding
View from the top: Lessons from the East
Catastrophes in Japan showed the resilience and strength of the industry, says Andrew McKee.
Thai cat fund given green light by regulator
The Office of Insurance Commision, Thailand’s insurance regulator, has passed a resolution to establish a 50bn baht (€1.2bn) catastrophe fund for floods, windstorms and earthquakes.
Government cat fund for Thailand
A £1bn Thai catastrophe fund is to be set up by the local government to provide cover for households, small to medium sized enterprises and industrial factories against floods, wind storms and earthquakes.
Q&A Asia: JLT
As part of Insurance Insights new remit to cover Asia, Jardine Lloyd Thompson Asia’s chief executive officer Warren Merritt (pictured)spoke to Francesca Nyman to discussed the broker’s plans there.
Insurers reveal Thai flood losses
Bermuda-based Arch Capital Group has said it expects the company’s 2011 fourth quarter results to be negatively impacted by the severe flooding in Thailand.
Natural Catastrophes poll
The sequence of earthquakes and large number of weather-related catastrophes have led some insurers to brand 2011 the costliest year ever in terms of natural catastrophes.
More M&A expected in Thailand after reinsurers review flood losses
Heavy losses from Thailand’s recent floods are dampening the appetite of global reinsurers to write business in the region.
AM Best affirms Asia Capital Reinsurance Group FSR
Asia Capital Reinsurance Group has had its financial strength ratings affirmed along with core subsidiaries.
Unified response called for as metal theft cases see substantial increase
Insurers are demanding a unified fight for changes to scrap metal sales to cut a spate of thefts, thought by the police to be worth more than £800m — but insurers argue consequential costs could run much higher.
No widescale rate hardening at 1/1 renewals
The 1 January reinsurance renewal season has seen large rate increases in catastrophe-exposed and loss-affected contracts, but there has not been wide market hardening.
Ferma members voice concerns over supply chain management
Commercial insurance buyers generally want better insurance products to cover their supply chain risks, a simple survey by Ferma has confirmed.
Labauan Re warned over rated action due to Thai flood losses
AM Best has placed under review with negative implications and affirmed the financial strength rating of A- (Excellent) and issuer credit ratings of “a-” of Labuan Reinsurance.
Insurers call for "serious" government action on flood risk plan
The Association of British Insurers and its members have called on government to “seriously consider” subsidised flood insurance for policyholders in high risk areas, replacing the Statement of Principles, which expires in 2013.
Thai floods: Crawford predicts claims disputes
Insurers could be lumbered with subrogation costs, reinstatement and difficulties calculating contingency business interruption claims from the Thailand floods.
Scor expects €140m in Thai flood losses
French reinsurer Scor estimates its losses from the floods in Thailand at €140m net of retrocession and before tax.
Partner Re to take $88m charge from Tohoku quake
PartnerRe is set to record a charge of approximately $88m (€67.2m) to reserve the full limit of its Tohoku Earthquake exposure related to its largest Japanese cedant.
Perils updates windstorm exposure data for 11 European countries
Perils, the independent organisation that provide industry-wide catastrophe insurance data, has updated the windstorm exposure data for 11 European countries.
Data collator to compile flood information after UK insurer requests
European insurer-backed catastrophe data collator Perils is to start compiling information on floods from January next year in response to demands from UK insurers.
Japanese non-life sector stable, Fitch says
The outlook for the Japanese non-life insurance industry is stable, underpinned by a recovery in the core automobile business line, according to a new Fitch report.
GAB Robins ready for Bawbag damage
George Bentley, client services director of loss adjuster GAB Robins, has doubled the number of adjusters available on call to handle severe weather this week and is proposing to open its offices for longer hours, if needed.
Munich Re puts €500m on Thai floods
Munich Re has estimated that the Thai floods will cost it €500m net before tax, but warned the figure could be higher.
Editor's comment: Impacting the market
Market-turning they may not be but market-impacting they evidently are. Revised loss estimates for the 1500 industrial units hit by the Thai floods have reached $20bn.
News analysis: Escalating loss estimates in Thailand begin to trigger market fallout
It was the worst flooding Thailand had seen for 50 years and, during its four-month spell, more than 600 people died and 77 provinces were submerged in water.