Canadian Insurers’ 3-Q Results Dampened by Large Cat Hits
January 1, 2004 by Canadian UnderwriterThe Canadian property and casualty insurance industry saw its net profit for the third quarter of this year fall by 20% to $517 million compared with the previous quarter’s $644 million. The biggest single cost impact incurred by insurers during…
2003 A “Modest” Year for Cat Losses
January 1, 2004 by Canadian UnderwriterOn a global scale, 2003 will go down as a modest year for insured catastrophe losses, but the human toll of yearend disasters – specifically the earthquake in Iran – were significant. In its annual report on global catastrophes, Munich…
2003 a “modest” year for cat losses: Swiss Re
December 17, 2003 by Canadian UnderwriterA new Swiss Re sigma study shows 2003 should be a relatively modest year for cat losses, with insurers paying out about US$17 billion (Cdn$22.5 billion) globally.The preliminary estimates put total financial losses from cats at US$65 billion (Cdn$86 billion),…
S&P pegs US commercial reserve shortfall at US$60 billion
December 16, 2003 by Canadian UnderwriterNotwithstanding asbestos and environmental liabilities, the U.S. commercial insurance market is facing a reserve shortfall of about US$60 billion, says rating agency Standard & Poor’s. This is despite reserve additions of US$22 billion in 2002 towards prior year losses.“As its…
Canadian insurers’ 3-Q results dampened by cat hits
December 15, 2003 by Canadian UnderwriterThe Canadian property and casualty insurance industry saw its net profit for the third quarter of this year fall by 20% to $517 million compared with the previous quarter’s $644 million. The biggest single cost impact incurred by insurers during…
2003’s busy hurricane season could be repeated in 2004
December 8, 2003 by Canadian UnderwriterEminent hurricane forecaster Prof. William Gray of Colorado State University says the above average hurricane season experienced in 2003 could well be repeated in 2004. “The recent upturn in Atlantic basin major hurricane activity which began in 1995 is expected…
Primary Insurer Strategies 2004: Towing The Bottom-Line
December 1, 2003 Sean van Zyl, Editor“Cautious optimism” – would seem to generally sum up the points of view of primary insurer CEOs in looking ahead to 2004. While this year saw the first signs of a profit recovery within the Canadian property and casualty insurance industry – with the premium pool rising by almost a third to reach a staggering $30 billion – the past 12 months also dealt insurers several blows in the form of higher catastrophe losses, rising prior-year adverse reserve developments, a spilling of red ink from the Facility Association, and provincial political intervention on loss-making mandatory covers. The latter, which applies to mostly personal lines auto, remains the greatest concern of insurers as governments have been slow to react with necessary product loss reduction reforms whilst introducing politically-motivated rate freezes. With much riding on the future viability of the auto product, insurer CEOs partaking in CU’s annual “strategic outlook” are hesitant to declare the industry “out of the woods” in terms of achieving a healthy and stable marketplace.
Turning Soft…
December 1, 2003 Sean van Zyl, EditorSome in the property and casualty insurance industry believe that “price stabilization” could translate into “soft market” as insurers head into a new year. U.S. industry results at this year’s half mark already showed a dramatic reduction in the growth…
RSA Canada Combined Ratio Drops
December 1, 2003 by Canadian UnderwriterAs parent company Royal & SunAlliance Group announced its overall losses had narrowed to 146 million pounds from 156 million pounds for the first nine months of 2003, the Canadian operation says its own financial results are improving. Despite losses…
Letters to the Editor (December 01, 2003)
December 1, 2003 by Canadian UnderwriterThe recent debate regarding automobile insurance rates in Nova Scotia has overshadowed the significant and positive impact that the industry has had in dealing with the huge volume of Hurricane Juan related claims. We recently wrote to the Nova Scotia…
RSA Canada combined ratio drops
November 24, 2003 by Canadian UnderwriterAs parent company Royal & SunAlliance Group announced its overall losses had narrowed to 146 million pounds from 156 million pounds for the first nine months of 2003, the Canadian operation says its own results are improving.Despite losses due to…
Moody’s ups California wildfire estimate to US$2.5 billion
November 13, 2003 by Canadian UnderwriterRating agency Moody’s predicts insured losses stemming from the wildfires that raged through Southern California this fall will be in the US$2.5 billion-US$3.5 billion range.Nonetheless, Moody’s does not expect the fires to materially impact the ratings or the overall outlook…