Claims

Terrorism backstop stagnant

The federal US government was recently called on by three elected representatives and Allstate Insurance, to take action on the federal terrorism insurance backstop this year and thus aid in the provision of reinsurance for catastrophes.The elected officials, Congressman Steve Israel and Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy, who urged the government to create a nationwide federal disaster […]

By Canadian Underwriter | January 24, 2006

1 min read

Claims

Global CAT reinsurance prices “lower”

Upon recent monitoring of the terms and conditions regarding the global property catastrophe insurance renewals for Jan. 1, 2006, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services says it is concerned that improvements in pricing and coverage terms might not be as significant as previously anticipated.S&P’s notes that the market trends it has been monitoring are not set […]

By Canadian Underwriter | January 23, 2006

2 min read

Claims

January renewals show “tale of two markets”

January renewals in the United States and Europe are telling a “tale of two markets,” according to Grahame Millwater, the chairman and CEO of Willis Re, who was quoted in the recent edition of A.M. BestWeek.A.M. Best notes in the Jan. 23, 2006 edition of its newsletter that “a few months after the record-breaking losses […]

By Canadian Underwriter | January 20, 2006

1 min read

Claims

S&P’s takes Hannover Re off CreditWatch

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services affirmed its long-term counterparty credit and insurer financial strength ratings on Hannover Rckversicherung-AG and its core entities – collectively Hannover Re – and removed them from CreditWatch, where they had been placed with negative implications on Nov. 10, 2005. At the same time, S&P’s affirmed its long-term counterparty credit and […]

By Canadian Underwriter | January 20, 2006

2 min read

Protection against the scourge of pirates

Lloyd’s is offering shipowners a new type of kidnap and ransom insurance, following rising levels of piracy attacks around the globe.Specialist intermediary Seacurus and Lloyd’s broker Cooper Gay have launched CrewSEACURE, a new type of marine cover underwritten within Lloyd’s.Captain Thomas Brown, managing director of Seacurus, said the product had been developed in response to […]

2 min read

SCOR selects new cat modeler

The international reinsurer SCOR recently chose EQECAT Inc.’s WORLDCATenterprise catastrophe management software for the assessment of catastrophe risks in 88 countries.”SCOR, like many other insurers and reinsurers, has gone through a re-evaluation of catastrophe models after the last two turbulent years of catastrophic event losses,” Rick Clinton, president of EQECAT, says, “we are pleased they […]

1 min read

Top 5 insurance scams in Manitoba

Manitoba motorists saved nearly $40 million over the last three years, thanks to the work of an anti-fraud special investigation unit, Manitoba Public Insurance [MPI] recently announced. The $40-million figure is based on an estimate of money recovered and fraudulent claims denied, MPI said in a recent public release.The figure was included in an MPI […]

2 min read

Insurers must debate weather-related losses: Lloyd’s chairman

The insurance industry must “face up to the growth in weather-related losses over the past four decades,” and lead debate about whether future weather-related catastrophes will be insurable, Lloyd’s chairman Lord Levene says.He made his remarks in a Jan. 11 speech to the Downtown Association and Insurance Brokers Association of New York. Levene offered his […]

2 min read

Insurers failed responding to Katrina, study says

Many insurance companies were ill-equipped in their response to Hurricane Katrina, exhibiting patterns of callousness, unfairness, and generally inept performance, according to a report recently released by the Americans for Insurance Reform (AIR), which is a coalition of public interest groups and a project of the Center for Justice & Democracy, . The report “The […]

2 min read

Benfield 2006 forecast better than expected

Despite unprecedented industry losses in 2004 and 2005, Benfield Group Limited is forecasting a more encouraging financial outlook for 2006 than previously expected.”The full impact of the unprecedented losses of 2004 and 2005, like that of previous major losses, will emerge over the next 12 to 18 months,” Benfield announced in a release. “Despite the […]

1 min read