According to Munich Re, earthquakes and other natural disasters in 2011 led to record losses in the insurance industry, which are estimated to have reached $105 billion. The world’s largest reinsurer said that the earthquakes in Japan, and the tsunami that followed, contributed to those totals by adding nearly 16,000 deaths and estimated $35 to $40 billion in damages to the final figures. Munich Re added that the February quake in Christchurch, New Zealand, alone was responsible for another $13 billion in insured damages. Together those two earthquakes caused almost…
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Japan Catastrophe 2011: The Wake Up Call
After seeing the devastation from last month’s earthquake and tsunami in Northeast Japan, officials in Tokyo are re- evaluating their current disaster plan. The huge 9.0 quake on March 11th that occurred over 200 miles from Japans capital made them realize they weren’t prepared for the worst-case situation. Japan has been working for over 40 years to make their country safer from devastating earthquakes. Earthquake engineering is a normal part of the construction process in Japan. City leaders were confident they had prepared for worse-case scenarios; until the quake…
Read MoreReinsurance company reports market strength despite major disasters
Willis Re, the reinsurance division of Willis Group Holdings (NYSE: WSH), has released their stimulating report “Shaken and Stirring”. Stirring is an understatement. The report shows that with the devastation in Japan, New Zealand, Chile and the Australian floods is still not enough to bring a hard market into play. The report finds that there has been rate increases on Natural Catastrophe Excess of Loss of between 5 and 50 %, but the recent massive earthquakes in Japan and New Zealand’s South Island are not significant to push market-wide pricing up.…
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