With the rising trend of North American natural catastrophe losses, a great deal of attention is being turned to the development of computer simulated cat risk programs. Cat risk models are hardly a new technological advancement for the insurance industry,…
Arecent tornado that hit Oklahoma has become the worst insured catastrophe in the state’s history, according to preliminary information released by the Property Claim Services (PCS) unit of Insurance Services Office (ISO). The storm system caused $955 million in insured…
Forecasting the U.S. insurance industry in recent years has been a rear view mirror exercise. The rate of growth in the industry has been in the same 2% to 3% range and profitability indicators have shown little change from year…
St. Paul Companies, an insurance and reinsurance group and the parent of St. Paul Canada — has released its yearend 1998 figures posting a dramatic decrease in earnings over 1997. Net income plummeted from 1997’s US$929 million to $89.3 million…
Global reinsurer Transatlantic Holdings Inc. has reported record net income earnings for 1998, up 33.4% from 1997’s US$185.5 million to 1998’s $247.5 million. Net income diluted on a common share basis rose $1.76 from 1997’s $5.34 to 1998’s $7.10. Record…
January 1999 was the third-costliest January for the U.S. in terms of catastrophe claims on record with insurers paying an estimated $1.75 billion in damages. The claims result from four events, according to Insurance Services Office, Inc.’s Property Claim Services…
January ice storm losses, rate cutting and poor investment returns are the major culprits pointing to a 42% drop in property and casualty insurers’ earnings to $1.137 billion for 1998 compared with 1997’s earnings of $1.960 billion, says Paul Kovacs,…
Despite deteriorating conditions in the property and casualty insurance market, insurers continue to slash already low premium rates. Market observers forecast this trend to continue for at least 24 months as insurers prioritize marketshare over revenue prosperity. Simply put, the…
As I approached the first aisles of the “Exhibitors’ Showcase” it occurred to me for perhaps the sixth or seventh time just how technologically advanced our business had become. The three-day-long brokers’ convention had started, and half of the convention…
The snowstorm which almost buried Toronto for the first two weeks of the new year is expected to cost insurers roughly $50 million, the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) estimates. Around 115cm of snow fell on Toronto with heavy accumulations…
The U.S. property and casualty insurance industry posted US$23.2 billion in net taxed income for the first nine months of 1998, showing a 15% drop from the $27.4 billion made over the same period in 1997. The decline is attributed…
Catastrophe losses continued to dampen U.S. property and casualty underwriters’ results for the third quarter of 1998, according to A.M. Best Company. The industry’s net income for the period fell 15% from the previous year’s level, due to higher underwriting…