Risk
Despite the tumult of hurricanes, typhoons and tsunamis in 2004, insurers maintained a discipline last year that they hope will carry into 2005, according to the annual “State of the Market” report by broker Heath Lambert.2004 saw insurers display “a mature and disciplined approached to underwriting”, despite pricing softening in some classes of business. Despite […]
By Canadian Underwriter | February 7, 2005
1 min read
Industry
U.S. insurers are expected to be a bit more cautious in their information technology (IT) investments in 2005, according to a new study by TowerGroup. Technology spending is expected to remain relatively flat in 2005, at US$36.4 billion compared to US$35.3 billion last year.”We expect the current climate for insurance to mitigate aggressive technology investments […]
Claims
Zurich Financial Services Group says claims relating to the South Asian tsunami disaster of December 26, 2004 will cost US$65 million, after tax and net of reinsurance (US$90 million pre-tax). Zurich also revised upward its estimate of losses from the four U.S. hurricanes last fall to US$520 million after tax and net of reinsurance (US$700 […]
Recent storms across Australia are expected to produce AU$120 million (Cdn$115.5 million) in claims, according to preliminary estimates from the country’s Insurance Disaster Response Organisation (IDRO).The IDRO says insurers should face almost 30,000 claims from the storms which hit New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania last Tuesday and Wednesday. The storms included hail, strong winds […]
By Canadian Underwriter | February 6, 2005
Zurich Financial Services Group says it will pay Equitas US$547 million to commute policies purchased from Zurich’s Centre operation by Lloyd’s syndicates reinsured by Equitas. Zurich says the agreement ends Centre’s exposure to those syndicates. “This commutation represents significant progress in the overall run-off of Centre’s liabilities,” notes a Zurich statement. A study by The […]
Commenting on January 1, 2005 renewals, French reinsurer Scor says pricing was fragmented by line of business and geography, with specific rate erosion in short-tail lines as competition increased in the marketplace.Overall, the company says it expects annual premium income of EUR940 million on its p&c treaties, a 3% drop at current exchange rates. However, […]
2 min read
In a conference call last week, ACE Ltd. CEO Evan Greenberg says the insurer will ask the court to dismiss civil charges filed by Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal.Blumenthal filed the civil case late last month, alleging ACE paid broker Marsh a “secret” US$50,000 commission to steer a US$80 million state contract to the insurer.In […]
Western Financial Group has successfully netted $22.25 million from its offering of subscription receipts. The offering was made in part to fund the company’s acquisition of Federated Life Insurance Co. and the subscription receipts can be redeemed for a share of Western Financial once that acquisition is complete. Western Financial expects to receive regulatory approval […]
By Canadian Underwriter | February 3, 2005
The second phase of the study on credit scoring engaged by the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI), has found the use of credit scores in underwriting “significantly improves pricing accuracy when combined with other rating variables in predicting risk”, according to insurance commissioner Jose Montemayor.Montemayor, who has been publicly skeptical of credit scoring, undertook the […]
Commercial insurance rates continued their moderate decline for the fourth straight quarter, finds the latest market survey by the Risk & Insurance Management Society (RIMS) and Advisen.The fourth-quarter 2004 benchmark survey took in its greatest number of respondents ever, and showed that last year represents the longest sustained period of soft market pricing in the […]
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