Last year, the reinsurance sector was battered down by huge losses resulting from natural disasters. The disasters that lead to the enormous insured losses included the earthquakes in New Zealand, the flooding in Thailand and Australia, and the tsunami following the earthquake in Japan. These were all top events discussed in the most recent survey results from the Reinsurance Association of America. Catastrophe losses considered, the combined ratios for most reinsurers within the group were reported to have fallen. According to the executive director covering property and casualty insurance at…
Read MoreTag: current natural disasters
Homeowners’ insurance rates increase as a result of last year’s tornadoes
The tornadoes that struck Joplin, Missouri, and other areas in 2011 will now be increasing the homeowners insurance rates as a whole, regardless of whether or not the area was influenced by any wind storms last year. According to data from the Missouri Department of Insurance, the rates for homeowners insurance in that state will be increasing by just over 5 percent. At the same time, state insurance officials in Illinois – an area also impacted by storms last year – have yet to provide any estimates as to how…
Read MoreOklahoma gap insurance to fill the additional need for flood coverage
According to a news release from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, despite the fact that flooding is the most common form of natural disaster in the country, statistics continue to indicate that individuals are ignoring this risk and are failing to purchase the gap insurance required to cover them against this circumstance. There are approximately 1.7 million households in the state of Oklahoma, and fewer than 34,000 (approximately 2 percent) of them are covered in the event of flooding, from a policy…
Read More2011 disaster losses break records from previous years
This year was one that brought disasters to areas all around the globe, and these catastrophes came with record breaking bills that have left the figures from previous years behind. According to the data from Swiss Re AG, a reinsurance company, the quakes and tsunami in Japan, the earthquakes in New Zealand, the Thailand floods, and the large number of American tornadoes brought a global disaster loss total up to a staggering $350 billion. The tremendous amount of devastation brought production at factories to a grinding halt and cut off…
Read More