US asbestos fund looks unlikely
05 October 2004
As the costs to insurers keep mounting and plaintiffs’ lawyers get even richer, the US is still a long way from resolving how to ensure the victims of asbestos-related diseases…
International
Insurers brave the storm
05 October 2004
A few weeks ago IAG CEO Michael Hawker warned that warming seas off the east coast of Australia could lead to cyclones around the coastal borders of Queensland and NSW…
TRIA extension closer
05 October 2004
The US Terrorist Risk Insurance Act extension has been approved by the House Financial Services Committee and will now go before the House of Representatives…
Axa chief sees a sunny future
05 October 2004
Axa CEO Henri de Castries says he’s enthusiastic about the insurance industry’s ability to innovate and maintain tight technical management of underwriting…
CII launches broker faculty
05 October 2004
The Chartered Insurance Institute has launched its Faculty of Insurance Broking, bringing a range of training and broker services under one facility…
US lawmakers consider terror act extension
28 September 2004
They’re notoriously slow, but US senators have at last held a hearing into the need to reauthorise the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, which has less than three months of life remaining…
Fourth hurricane hits Florida
28 September 2004
The fourth hurricane to hit the US coast this season slammed into Florida’s Atlantic coast over the weekend, causing damage estimated between $US6 billion and $US14 billion…
Ivan blows out insurers’ costs
21 September 2004
Hurricane Ivan is the third bad hurricane of the season in the US and it’s expected to cost insurance companies between $US4 billion and $US10 billion…
Reinsurers not out of the woods yet
21 September 2004
Global reinsurance rates are too low to sustain profitability, according to ratings agency AM Best…
9/11 insurers go after the airlines
21 September 2004
At least a dozen insurers and reinsurers – including QBE – have filed lawsuits seeking to recover losses incurred by them after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Centre…
Third parties are big business
21 September 2004
Selling insurance to third parties is a big business in the UK, according to an email survey of 400 member organisations by the Association of Insurance and Risk Managers…
Aviva moves out of Asia insurance
14 September 2004
British company Aviva, the world’s fifth-largest insurer, is selling its Asian general insurance business to Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance of Japan…
Experience limits exposure in Florida
14 September 2004
Changes to the way insurers do business in Florida since Hurricane Andrew in 1992 are likely to limit the insurance cost of hurricanes Charley and Frances…
Some 9/11 good news
14 September 2004
No insurance company was bankrupted because of the September 11 terror attacks, according to a study by US university Ball State…
US insurers not afraid of being blown away
07 September 2004
Insurers exposed to destruction caused by Hurricane Frances in Florida may face up to $US10 billion in claims…
Lloyd’s aims for slip compliance
07 September 2004
Lloyd’s has underpinned its commitment to increasing contract certainty by announcing the creation of an action team of LMP slip auditors…
Swiss Re profit beats expectations
31 August 2004
The travails of the past few years now safely behind it, and the rest of the reinsurance industry, Zurich-based Swiss Re has capitalised on the recovering investment markets…
Risk body does U-turn on fee disclosure
31 August 2004
Just a few weeks ago the New York-based Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS) was saying it was quite relaxed about insurance brokers receiving commission…
Zurich’s global profit soars
24 August 2004
Zurich Financial Services has reported a first-half net profit of $US1.5 billion for its global operations…
Hurricane Charley costs up to $US10 billion
24 August 2004
The most recent estimates by risk agencies indicate that insurers will have to pay out between $US6 billion and $US10 billion as a result of Hurricane Charley…