Claims

AIR pegs Rita losses at US$2.5-$5 billion

Catastrophe risk modeling company AIR Worldwide Corporation estimates Hurricane Rita will cost the insurance industry a total of between $2.5 billion and $5 billion in losses.Rita made landfall between Sabine Pass and Johnson’s Bayou on the Louisiana coast as a Category 3 hurricane. At landfall, Rita had maximum sustained winds of 120 mph.Hurricane Rita’s strongest […]

By Canadian Underwriter | September 26, 2005

2 min read

Claims

Private-sector losses from Katrina US$40-US$60 billion, RMS

Risk Management Solutions (RMS) recently stated it will expand its methodologies for estimating insured losses using real-time reconnaissance data, catastrophe models and databases of insurance industry exposure. RMS says it still anticipates that private-sector insured losses from Hurricane Katrina will reach US$40-US$60 billion with total economic losses exceeding US$125 billion.The loss estimate of US$40-US$60 billion […]

By Canadian Underwriter | September 23, 2005

1 min read

Claims

EQECAT estimates Katrina-related losses

Based on a recent analysis, EQECAT, Inc. estimates insured losses to the offshore oil and gas industry, private automobiles and marine insurance, as well as commercially insured flood damages related to Hurricane Katrina are between US$11 billion and US$19 billion. The Company’s previous estimates of insured losses from wind damage remain constant at the range […]

By Canadian Underwriter | September 23, 2005

1 min read

Claims

Katrina costliest event to hit insurance industry

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services stated, in a recent report, that Hurricane Katrina is likley the most costly event to hit the global insurance industry. “Even the low side of loss estimates (about $35 billion) place it at almost twice the cost of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and more than Hurricane Andrew with insured […]

By Canadian Underwriter | September 22, 2005

2 min read

Elevated hurricane activity persists

The director of U.S.-based National Hurricane Center says the above-average hurricane activity devastating North America could last another 20 years or even longer.Director Max Mayfield recently told the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee’s Subcommittee on Disaster Prevention and Prediction that the current heightened activity is a result of "natural cycles of hurricane activity, driven […]

1 min read

A.M. Best reviews impact of Southern Ontario storm

The recent storm that hit Southern Ontario resulted in vast property damages and losses totaling millions of dollars and resulting losses are expected to exceed $400 million, making it the highest insured loss in Ontario history. Early indications from A.M. Best Co.’s analysis of interactively rated companies impacted by the storm show that Canada’s p&c […]

1 min read

XL Capital Group placed on CreditWatch

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has placed its ratings on XL Capital Group (XL) on CreditWatch, based on the uncertainty around Hurricane Katrina’s ultimate impact on XL’s capital adequacy ratio. The ratings and outlook on XL’s ‘AAA’ rated financial guaranty companies (i.e., XL Capital Assurance and XL Financial Assurance) remain unaffected.Standard & Poor’s action is […]

2 min read

Wood prices soar after Katrina

Damage inflicted in the southern United States as a result of Hurricane Katrina contributed to a rise of wood prices on the BMO Financial Group Commodity Price Index, BMO Economics reported Sept. 21.BMO reports the extensive rebuilding work in the Katrina-hit areas such as Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama has “lifted the prospects of wood products.”For […]

2 min read

Louisiana prepares for Hurricane Rita

The National Hurricane Centre in the U.S. says Hurricane Rita, now a Category 4 hurricane, “could reach Category 5 intensity in the central Gulf of Mexico” and is tracking to reach landfall on the south coast of Texas and the southwestern-most part of Louisiana by Sept 23 or 24. “Rita remains an extremely dangerous hurricane,” […]

1 min read

Berkshire to bear 3-5% of Katrina losses

Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A; BRK.B) estimates “it will incur 3-5% of the industry losses associated with Hurricane Katrina,” the company has announced.Industry losses have recently been estimated at anywhere between $40 billion to $60 billion. If these figures hold true, Berkshire’s estimate would amount to losses of anywhere in the range of US$1.2 billion to $3 […]

1 min read