Natural catastrophes (Nat Cats)
Allianz suffers £23m weather claims loss but retail and commercial GWP grow
Allianz UK has posted bad weather claims costs of £23m for the first six months of 2012.
German Mutual Insurance downgraded after wind strom hits results
German Mutual Insurance Company has had its financial strength rating downgraded to B+ (Good) from B++ (Good) and issuer credit rating to 'bbb-' from 'bbb'. The outlook for both ratings is negative.
Generali sees profits boost from premiums outside Italy
Generali Group has posted net profits up 4.5% to €842m (2011 H1: €806m) for the first half of 2012, with the operating result stable at €2.34bn despite significant catastrophe events.
Hiscox UK falters while group profit soars
Hiscox returned an interim pre-tax profit of £125.8m (H1 2011: loss £85.6m), following a more benign catastrophe season compared with the previous 12 months.
Insured losses from Chinese storms expected to reach $78.7m
Insured losses from the severe storm that struck Beijing last Saturday are estimated at ¥500m ($78.7m), the city's insurance regulatory commission said on Thursday.
GAB Robins graduates experience weather claims surge response
GAB Robins' graduate recruits will start work more than a month ahead of the original September start date to experience handling the recent surge in weather-related claims.
Climate Change: Turbulent times
With climate change a growing global concern, how is the insurance industry playing its part in saving the planet?
Insured losses 'low' as Typhoon Vincente sweeps through China
Up to 37 people are dead and 700 homes were flooded after Beijing was devastated by the heaviest rainfall to hit the city since 1951.
HK Stock Exchange resumes trading as typhoon warning lowered
Hong Kong lowered its cyclone warning on Tuesday and its markets resumed trading after Typhoon Vicente, the most intense storm to hit the city since 1999, moved towards China.
Catastrophe reinsurance market nears strategic shift
The catastrophe reinsurance market may be on the cusp of a strategic shift, with third-party capital providers set to take on increasing amounts of peak catastrophe risk in the future.
RMS and Tokio Marine collaborate on Japanese perils
Catastrophe modelling firm Risk Management Solutions and insurer Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire have agreed to share information on Japanese earthquake and typhoon risk over a long-term period.
AIR launches cyclone model for India
Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide has released a cyclone model for India.
Nat-cat losses dip below average for first six months of 2012
Natural catastrophe losses for the the first six months of 2012 were $26bn, well below the six-month average of recent years, according to Munich Re.
Thousands of homes evacuated after floods in Japan
Homes suffered substantial damage on Wednesday after intense rainfall caused flash flooding, burst river banks and landslides in the south west region.
H1 natural catastrophe losses $70bn less than in 2011
Insured losses from natural catastrophes were approximately $12bn in the first six months of 2012, significantly less than the $82bn in the first half of 2011.
Lack of cat activity leads to plentiful capacity in reinsurance market
Reinsurance capital continued to strengthen through the second quarter of 2012 as a result of limited exposure to catastrophe losses in the opening six months of the year.
'Unsettled' weather not over, RMS warns
The industry has been told to brace itself for further wet weather after a weekend of rain affected festivals and the Silverstone racing event in Northamptonshire.
UK faces ongoing flood risk after wettest April to June on record
Further flooding affected the UK during the weekend of 6 and 7 July following outbreaks of exceptionally heavy rainfall.
Flash floods in Russia kill 170 and cause severe damage
At least 170 people were killed when flash floods hit the Krasnodar region of southern Russia on 6 July after excessive rainfall.
Novae Re exodus to damage reinsurance book
The resignations of the chief executive of Novae Re’s Zurich operation Gunter Saacke, chief underwriting officer Will Schuerch and 10 underwriters have sparked concerns that the insurer cannot retain business written by certain divisions.
Challenging conditions for loss adjusters in the wake of 2011's nat-cats
Difficulty sharing information, lack of access to affected areas and cultural differences hampered loss adjusters in the aftermath of 2011's devastating natural disasters, according to industry insiders.
Rate hardening slows in second quarter
The global insurance market hardened in Q2 2012 for the fourth consecutive quarter, albeit at a slow rate, according to Marsh.
Market firming continued in Q2, says new Marsh index
The global insurance market continued to firm in the second quarter of 2012 continuing a trend that began in the third quarter of 2011, according to the Marsh Risk Management Global Insurance Index released today.
View from the top: Call for creative collaboration
As priorities for business change, insurers must make sure they do not become irrelevant, says Andrew Horton.