Topic
Climate Change
Thunderstorms now a primary concern for insurers
August 10, 2023 by David GambrillDamage from secondary perils such as thunderstorms in the first half of 2023 is of primary concern to reinsurers. A series of widespread thunderstorms hitting the U.S. accounted for 68% of global insured natural catastrophe losses in the first half…
What could cause a ‘nasty’ hurricane season?
August 10, 2023 Seth Borenstein - THE ASSOCIATED PRESSRecord hot ocean temperatures and a tardy El Nino are doubling the chances of a nasty Atlantic hurricane season this summer and fall, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Thursday. With the Atlantic hurricane season already well above normal…
What’s the future for Canada’s reinsurance rates?
August 2, 2023 Alyssa Di SabatinoNew risks emerging in Canada are leading reinsurers to increase premiums, industry experts have told Canadian Underwriter. Although U.S. damage losses last year far outweighed Canada’s, contributing significantly to escalating reinsurance prices, insured NatCat damage in Canada in 2022 was…
‘Complacency’ blamed for N.S. struggles with flooding, other climate disasters
August 1, 2023 Michael Tutton - THE CANADIAN PRESSHALIFAX – On the night floodwaters swept through his Nova Scotia county, taking lives and tearing out bridges, Doug Pynch says he had trouble believing an emergency alert that flashed across his phone. It called for residents to evacuate to…
What it would take for Osoyoos wildfires to become a Cat
August 1, 2023 by Alyssa DiSabatinoWinds diverting a wildfire burning near Osoyoos, B.C., may have prevented a Cat-level event for the industry, adjusters tell Canadian Underwriter. A raging wildfire scorched 40 square kilometres of land and destroyed several structures in Washington, U.S., before jumping the…
How the Nova Scotia floods compare to Hurricane Fiona
July 28, 2023 by Alyssa DiSabatinoRecent flooding in Nova Scotia has led adjusters to see damages comparable to Hurricane Fiona, but final claims totals aren’t expected to be as high as when Fiona blew through the East Coast last September, claims professionals on the ground…
Four homes in Northwest Territories lost in wildfire, road closed
July 28, 2023 The Canadian PressYELLOWKNIFE — An out-of-control wildfire in the Northwest Territories has destroyed four homes in a community about 100 kilometres northwest of Yellowknife. Wildfire information officer Mike Westwick says the fire has reached the community of Behchoko in Rae. The territory’s…
Aging infrastructure struggling to keep up with storms, wildfires, changing climate
July 27, 2023 Hina Alam - THE CANADIAN PRESSFREDERICTON – The torrential rain that washed out roads, bridges and a key rail link in Nova Scotia on the weekend is being described as another sign that engineers cannot rely on past weather patterns to design infrastructure able to…
Canada’s P&C insurers react to federal cabinet shuffle
July 27, 2023 by Jason ContantCanadian property and casualty insurers will be working with new cabinet ministers in the areas of emergency preparedness, public safety (including cybersecurity and auto theft), and housing, infrastructure and communities (including climate resilience), following Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s major cabinet…
Claims pouring in for record Nova Scotia rainstorm
July 24, 2023 by Alyssa DiSabatinoAdjusters are beginning to see claims pour in after thunderstorms dumped record amounts of rain on Nova Scotia Friday. Torrential downpours dropped over two months’ worth of rain (between 200 and 250 millimetres) in about 24 hours on Halifax, Nova…
Can insurers and reinsurers survive looming NatCat trends?
July 21, 2023 Glenn McGillivrayOne of the hallmarks of a warming world is that you never know what may come next. The reasonably stable climate of the last 100,000 years is being thrown into disarray as Earth’s systems are forced out of kilter. For…
Ontario, Quebec to see more tornado ‘fuel,’ but more data needed
July 19, 2023 Thomas MacDonald - THE CANADIAN PRESSMONTREAL – Climate change will likely bring more weather conditions to Ontario and Quebec that are favourable to the development of tornadoes, but it’s still unclear whether Central Canada will actually be hit by more of them, experts say. Severe…