Claims

Benfield launches online Storm Centre

Benfield has launched its online Storm Centre, a real-time portal for up-to-the- minute information on current and past tropical cyclone activity.The Storm Centre, which replaces the Hurricane and Typhoon Season CD, is a portal for information on current and past tropical cyclone activity. Incorporating a real-time storm tracker powered by the Benfield-sponsored Tropical Storm Risk, […]

By Canadian Underwriter | June 2, 2006

1 min read

Claims

Alberta’s 2005 flood season reviewed

Alberta experienced one of the worst flood seasons on record in the summer of 2005 due to severe weather conditions, according to the Government of Alberta.These unprecedented conditions which saw rainfall ranging from between 50 and 100 mm to more than 400 mm, influenced the Governments decision to create the Southern Alberta Disaster Recovery Program, […]

By Canadian Underwriter | June 1, 2006

1 min read

Claims

2006 “mega-hurricanes” could lead to insurer failures: A.M. Best

A 2006 “mega-hurricane” causing damages of more than US$100 billion would likely result in a failure rate of between 3% and 7% of insurers with related catastrophe exposure, according to an A.M. Best report.”A.M. Best’s statistical analysis of two hypothetical mega-hurricanessuggests that anywhere from 20 to 40 insurers, or 3% to 7% of all insurers […]

By Canadian Underwriter | June 1, 2006

2 min read

Claims

Aon sees improvement despite slight drop in income

Aon Corporation (NYSE: AOC)’s net income in 2006 Q1 dropped slightly to US$198 million from its 2005 Q1 net income of US$200 million. According to the company, the net income fell as a result of: restructuring charges of US$0.06 per share in 2006 Q1; a 2006 Q1 gain of US$0.07 per share related to a […]

May 31, 2006

1 min read

Active hurricane season anticipated, fewer land falls

The 2006 hurricane season is expected to see 17 named storms forming in the Atlantic basin but, according to Colorado State University’s (CSU) forecast, fewer major hurricanes will make landfall on coastal regions compared to last year. The U.S. Atlantic basin likely will experience another active hurricane CSU says that for the 2006 hurricane season, […]

3 min read

RMS launches new windstorm model

Risk Management Solutions (RMS) recently launched a new platform for quantifying wind-related risk. Meteorological modeling has been extended to include a comprehensive suite of wind events enabling loss calculations both from large-scale Extra-Tropical winter-storms, such as windstorms Anatol, Lothar and Martin in 1999, as well as from smaller-scale summer thunderstorm events, such as the Birmingham […]

2 min read

ING Canada promotes car seat safety through compensation

ING Canada and belairdirect are promoting car seat safety by offering to compensate auto policyholders for any child safety restraint system installed in a vehicle that is involved in an accident, even if the car seat was not damaged on impact.The majority of insurers in Quebec pay out compensation only for child car seats with […]

2 min read

S&P’s affirms PartnerRe’s ‘A’ rating; outlook negative

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services affirmed the ‘A’ counterparty credit rating on Bermuda-based reinsurer PartnerRe Ltd. (NYSE: PRE), but changed its outlook on the reinsurer from’stable’ to ‘negative.’According to the ratings agency, “the revised outlook reflects PartnerRe’s operating capital adequacy, which remains below Standard & Poor’s expectations for a ‘AA-‘ rating, at an estimated 121% […]

2 min read

Business must adapt to seasons of change

The energy insurance market has proven its resilience despite the large losses of 2005, according to the Energy Market Review published by Willis Group Holdings (NYSE:WSH). However, the report notes that with numerous changes and challenges affecting the industry, it is currently unclear whether the market could be as successful if the 2006 storm season […]

1 min read

RIMS survey: Commercial insurance “a buyer’s market”

North America’s commercial insurance industry remained a buyers’ market in 2005 and shows no signs of hardening any time soon, according to the 2005 Annual Benchmark Survey from the Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS).The 2005 RIMS Benchmark Survey book provides risk managers objective and actionable insurance market information based on the insurance programs of […]

2 min read