U.S. insurers face almost US$2 billion in claims in second quarter 2002
July 30, 2002 by Canadian UnderwriterU.S. insurers are estimated to be paying US$1.97 billion in claims from 10 catastrophes in the second quarter 2002, says the Property Claims Services Unit of the Insurance Services Office (ISO).These events include the Arizona wildfires of late-June, but this…
Citadel assigned “very good” initial rating, CCR and Alea ratings affirmed
July 17, 2002 by Canadian UnderwriterThe Citadel General Assurance Company of Toronto and its counterpart, L’Unique Compagnie d’Assurances Generales of Quebec have been assigned an initial rating of B++, or “very good”, by rating agency A.M. Best.Although both are subsidiaries of Winterthur Insurance, part of…
Cover Story: Canadian Reinsurers: Burn Point
July 1, 2002 Sean van Zyl, EditorDespite the significant rate increases implemented through 2002 renewals, few canadian reinsurers expect this year will produce a desperately needed profit recovery. With several of the major as well as small players on the global stage having recently been downgraded by financial rating agencies, and the parent owners of some of these operations having seemingly lost their appetite for the reinsurance business, market watchers are predicting a new wave of consolidation within the sector. While this pressure has already resulted in global head-office management shakeouts, the burn point seems to be tuning toward local senior managers as the market shifts into full drive in the race for profitability. This may be a hard market, but will the existing players and their senior management survive to see it through?
2002 Cat Rate Comparison
July 1, 2002 Catherine Fagan, assistant vice president of Swiss Reinsurance CThe potential threat to the insurance industry of man-made catastrophic disasters was brought under the spotlight by the events of September 11. While considerable attention is being given to evaluate these risks at both the primary and reinsurance levels, as an industry we should not forget the hazard and need for adequate pricing of natural disaster exposures.
Energy companies form excess insurer
May 3, 2002 by Canadian UnderwriterInternational energy companies have joined together to form an excess mutual insurer offering property and catastrophe business interruption coverage. Twelve Members of Oil Insurance Ltd. and Oil Casualty Insurance Ltd. have established sEnergy Insurance Ltd., and completed initial capitalization of…
U.S. insurers incur first-ever annual net loss for 2001
May 1, 2002 by Canadian UnderwriterU.S. property and casualty insurers produced a negative return on equity of 2.7% for the 2001 financial year compared with a 6.5% ROE reported the year before. This plunge into the red resulted from skyrocketing catastrophe claims, including losses arising…
Cats at 10-year low for Q1, says ISO
April 22, 2002 by Canadian UnderwriterThe U.S. Insurance Services Office (ISO) is reporting that for the first quarter of 2002 insured-property losses are the lowest for any first quarter in the past decade. U.S. Insurers will pay out US$580 million in homeowners’ and commercial property…
U.S. insurers incur first-ever annual net loss on the back of cat costs and plummeting investment returns
April 15, 2002 by Canadian UnderwriterU.S. property and casualty insurers produced a negative return on equity of 2.7% for the 2001 financial year compared with a 6.5% ROE reported for the previous year. This poor financial performance resulted from skyrocketing catastrophic claims, including losses arising…
Lloyd’s 2001 losses top Cdn$7 billion
April 10, 2002 by Canadian UnderwriterFor the first time ever, Lloyd’s of London is reporting it financial results on an annual basis, but the picture is not a rosy one for 2001. With Cdn$4.53 billion (1.98 billion British pounds) losses from the September 11 terrorist…
Man-made catastrophes outpace natural disasters in 2001, says Swiss Re study
March 13, 2002 by Canadian UnderwriterIn 2001, man-made catastrophes cost insurers more than natural disasters, mainly due to the back of September 11 losses, says the latest sigma study released by Swiss Re. The study pegs losses for the terrorist attacks at US$19 billion for…
The U.S. Marketplace Post September 11
March 1, 2002 Sean van Zyl, EditorSpeakers at this year’s Joint Industry Forum — which recently took place in New York City — were bullish of the financial prospects of the North American property and casualty insurance industry in the post September 11 era. However, they,…
Losing by Default
March 1, 2002 Glenn McGillivray, assistant vice president & head of corporateWith a softening economy — which was exacerbated greatly by the 9/11 events — an economic crisis in Argentina, and a record-breaking string of corporate bankruptcies over the last months, many companies quickly learned that natural and man-made catastrophes present just one type of threat to the balance-sheet.