UK insurers in the red
18 April 2011
The UK insurance industry has plummeted into the red with claims exceeding income during the fourth quarter of last year…
International
Insured tsunami losses push $US18 billion
18 April 2011
New estimates of insured losses from the Japanese earthquake and tsunami have come in between $US18 billion ($17.1 billion) and $US26 billion ($24.7 billion)…
Willis Re says quakes won’t force global rate increases
18 April 2011
Many reinsurers have exhausted their catastrophe loss budgets for this year and are raising rates while managing capacity more tightly, according to a report by Willis Re…
Strong first-quarter results from AIA
18 April 2011
Asian life insurer AIA has reported a 17% rise in new premium sales to $US512 million ($485.6 million) for the first quarter ending February 28…
Tsunami won’t cause Katrina-like rises
18 April 2011
While low earthquake insurance penetration and the relatively small amount of insurance losses passed on to international players mean the catastrophe is unlikely to impact global prices…
MarketScout hails end of US soft market in some sectors
11 April 2011
The soft market is over for catastrophe-exposed property in the US, according to analyst MarketScout…
Reinsurance markets ‘do not need more capital’
11 April 2011
The reinsurance market continues to function efficiently and is unlikely to need major new capital inflows as a result of recent disasters, Aon says in its latest reinsurance review…
Private equity backs hardening reinsurance market
11 April 2011
The first trickle of new post-Japanese earthquake capital has entered the reinsurance market, giving yet another indication that the soft market is coming to an end…
Aon estimates summer disasters cost over $14 billion
11 April 2011
Aon Benfield has estimated the cost of the summer disasters in Australia and New Zealand at more than $US15 billion ($14.2 billion)…
Japan deepens Flagstone’s woes as market-wide losses mount
11 April 2011
The exposures of insurers and reinsurers to the Japanese earthquake and tsunami are beginning to filter down, with most losses coming within market expectations…
Industry on tenterhooks over US hurricane threat
11 April 2011
Updated forecasts for the 2011 US hurricane season have done little to put insurers and reinsurers at ease, with the season still expected to produce “well above average” hurricane activity…
UK insurance profits up
11 April 2011
Signs of a recovery in the UK’s moribund financial sector are beginning to show, with insurers joining the broader financial sector to post a third consecutive quarter of growth…
Lloyd’s makes a profit despite catastrophes
04 April 2011
Lloyd’s has reported a pre-tax profit of £2.19 billion ($3.4 billion) for the 2010 calendar year compared to £3.8 billion ($5.9 billion) in 2009…
Growing problems from Japan’s stricken power plants
04 April 2011
Japan’s nuclear fallout from the Fukushima Dai-ichi plants continues to grow, with estimates of compensation continuing to rise…
UK aggregators to grab 50% of markets
04 April 2011
Aggregator websites will account for nearly half of all personal motor policies sold in the UK by 2014, according to a new report by Ernst & Young and the Chartered Insurance Institute…
Chartis reshuffles senior management team
04 April 2011
Chartis has replaced its global CEO and divided the business into two groups – consumer and commercial…
Disaster management a vital step
04 April 2011
Swiss Re experts say rising losses from natural and man-made catastrophes reinforce the need for preventative and post-disaster management to help “reduce human suffering”…
German insurers call for about-face on gender ruling
04 April 2011
The German insurance federation, GDV, wants the European Court of Justice’s decision to outlaw the use of gender as an underwriting determinant overturned…
Economic growth feeds catastrophe losses
04 April 2011
Allianz insurance researchers say a seven-fold increase in catastrophe losses since the 1970s is the result of increasing global economic growth and climate change…
Litigation reform a win for claimants
04 April 2011
The Association of British Insurers has welcomed a UK Government move to stamp out excessive legal costs, saying it will give genuine claimants a better deal…