Insurance news

• Congress passes 3-month extension for unchanged NFIP

  08-09-2017 23:53
  Congress passed a $15.25bn hurricane relief measure that
  includes a three-month extension of the National Flood Insurance
  Program, or NFIP, as well as funding to prevent its governmental
  parent, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, from running out
  of cash.
  Passage in the House of Representatives this morning by a 316 to
  90 vote ensures the NFIP and Fema, as its parent agency is known,
  will remain in business at least until 8 December as members in the
  lower chamber voted...
  
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• RMS: 90% likelihood Irma loss is sub-$85bn

  08-09-2017 19:43
  After the forecast track of Hurricane Irma edged west, RMS has said
  that preliminary modelled estimates suggest there is a 90 percent
  chance that insured wind losses from the storm will be less than
  $85bn.
  The figure is not a firm loss estimate and is subject to
  significant uncertainty as the path of the storm changes, with the
  median figure likely to be significantly below this mark.
  As the powerful storm approaches Florida there has been
  widespread uncertainty over the...
  
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• Irma weakens as it closes in on Florida

  08-09-2017 19:43
  Hurricane Irma weakened to a category 4 storm overnight as it
  churned its way through the Caribbean as forecasters put it on a
  more westerly track, indicating it is less likely that the eye of
  the storm will pass over Miami.
  The latest data suggests a slightly less devastating hit to the
  Sunshine State, but could mean greater wind risk for its Gold Coast
  along the Atlantic from Miami north to West Palm Beach.
  Insurance sector stocks mostly rose in...
  
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• Irma threatens more than 40% of cat bonds

  08-09-2017 19:43
  Florida-based carriers have sponsored about $1.9bn of cat bonds
  across a wide range of risk levels, but the bulk of the cat bond
  portfolio threatened by Hurricane Irma is made up of multi-peril
  issuances with national US exposure.
  Almost $12bn of the cat bond market is exposed to a first-event
  US wind loss in Florida, according to data compiled by sister
  publication Trading Risk.
  This constitutes 87 separate cat bond layers
  that represent more than 40 percent of the total...
  
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• Darag agrees Israeli legacy deal

  08-09-2017 19:43
  Legacy acquirer Darag has completed a legacy transaction in
  Israel with an undisclosed insurer, the first of its kind in
  Israel, according to the firm.Guy Carpenter and Israeli broker Resolutions Reinsurance
  co-operated with Darag on the deal.Darag also said its previously
  announced acquisition of Ikano Försäkring AB has
  completed after securing approval from the Swedish regulator.Stuart Davies, executive chairman of Darag, said: "Both
  these transactions are important steps for Darag a
  
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• 150 jobs at risk in L&G's Hove office

  08-09-2017 16:58
  As many as 150 jobs are reportedly at risk as Legal & General plans to move its general insurance unit from Hove to Birmingham.
  
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• Opinion: A very different conversation

  08-09-2017 16:19
  At last year's largely uneventful Napslo annual convention in
  Atlanta the talk at the bars was of a merry-go-round of
  underwriting execs in the E&S property space.
  There was also much bemoaning of a soft market bloodbath that
  was prompting some carriers to consider significant retrenchment as
  margins bordered on the unacceptable.
  As delegates head to San Diego this weekend for the newly
  christened Wholesale & Specialty Insurance Association
  (WSIA)'s 2017 Annual Marketplace, the spotlight
  
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• Mayo to return with new Barbican vehicle

  08-09-2017 16:19
  Excess and surplus lines (E&S) property specialist Colin
  Mayo is set to re-emerge in the market at a new US MGA vehicle
  being established by Barbican Insurance Group, The
  Insurance Insider can reveal.
  The former Ariel Re executive parted with that companyearlier this summer just four months after its $235mn
  acquisition by Argo Group.However, Mayo is understood to still be in the process of
  serving his notice period with the Bermudian carrier.
  Although details of the new MGA...
  
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• Heritage says southeast Florida exposure down $7bn

  08-09-2017 16:19
  Heritage Insurance cut its exposure in three southeast Florida
  counties by $7bn in the 12 months to 30 June 2017, while multi-year
  cat bonds it bought will yield "impressive dividends" in
  the event of an Irma hit on the state.
  The counties concerned are Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach.
  Category 5 storm Irma, which is currently powering through the
  Caribbean towards the south-eastern Bahamas, isexpected to reach the Miami area on Sunday.
  In a statement published yesterday, Heritage chairman...
  
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• Florida PML models underestimate direct Miami hit: Karen Clark

  08-09-2017 16:19
  Karen Clark, CEO of the eponymous modelling firm, has
  highlighted the disparity between most insurers' probable
  maximum loss (PML) models for a one-in-100-year event and the
  likely insured cost of a direct hit on a populated area.
  Speaking on a Bank of America client call earlier this week, the
  Karen Clark & Co (KCC) CEO said PML models didn't drill
  down into scenarios in which specific, highly populated and insured
  cities were hit by a Category 5 hurricane.
  By contrast,...
  
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• Up to 150 jobs at risk in L&G's Hove office - report

  08-09-2017 15:51
  Insurer says it plans to move a group of customer service roles from Hove to Birmingham by the end of the year.
  
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• Best of Lex: your weekly round-up

  08-09-2017 14:55
  CEOs in, out or shaken all about
  
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• Ogden decision to curb reinsurance pricing rises

  08-09-2017 13:42
  Reinsurance pricing will only increase modestly at January renewals as a result of the government’s Ogden announcement.
  
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• Broker Apprentice: Still time to enter

  08-09-2017 13:17
  Are you an ambitious broker looking for a step up the ladder? Enter Broker Apprentice today before it is too late and secure your place on the popular series.
  
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• Lloyd's report pegs Miami windstorm at $131bn as Irma heads for Florida

  08-09-2017 13:15
  Hurricane Irma could see industry property losses of $131bn, according Lloyd's realistic disaster scenario analysis.
  
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• ZhongAn cleared for $1bn+ Hong Kong IPO: Reuters

  08-09-2017 12:43
  China's first internet-only P&C insurer, ZhongAn Online
  P&C Insurance, has reportedly secured Hong Kong Stock Exchange
  approval for an IPO.
  Reuters reported that sources had indicated the IPO could raise
  more than $1bn. The company plans to start testing investor
  appetite for the listing as early as Monday (11 September), with 18
  September slated as the launch date, the newswire added.
  If the IPO takes off as planned it would be the largest by a
  fintech company in Hong Kong....
  
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• Opinion: Discount dash

  08-09-2017 12:43
  The UK government has defied the more pessimistic assumptions that
  it had kicked the Ogden reforms into the long grass following Prime
  Minister Theresa May's election own-goal.
  The Ministry of Justice's publication yesterdayof draft legislation to reform the discount rate was a massive
  fillip for the industry after a 3.25 percentage point cut in the
  discount rate caused reserving mayhem for primary carriers and
  reinsurers - and premium rate misery for consumers.
  The plan is that the methodology
  
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• Models drive 'suicidal' decision-making: Charman

  08-09-2017 12:43
  John Charman, the CEO and chairman of Bermudian insurer Sompo
  International, has criticised the insurance industry for
  "blindly following models".
  Speaking after receiving an award at The Insurance
  Insider Honours, Charman said: "We have so much
  data available, we have great modelling capability and the best
  analytics, and yet I have seen some of the most suicidal
  decision-making during the process."
  Sloppy underwriting will become an increasingly critical issue
  during the current US hurricane s
  
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• Mayo to come back with new Barbican vehicle

  08-09-2017 12:43
  Excess and surplus lines (E&S) property specialist Colin Mayo
  is set to re-emerge in the market at a new US MGA vehicle being
  established by Barbican Insurance Group, The Insurance
  Insider can reveal.
  The former Ariel Re executive parted with that companyearlier this summer just four months after its $235mn
  acquisition by Argo Group.However, Mayo is understood to still be in the process of
  serving his notice period with the Bermudian carrier.
  Although details of the new MGA...
  
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• Lockton takes healthcare broker from Beecher Carlson

  08-09-2017 12:43
  Independent broking house Lockton has recruited healthcare
  specialist Timothy Folk from rival Beecher Carlson.
  The new hire will join Lockton as an executive vice president
  having served as a managing director at Beecher Carlson, where he
  worked for just under three years, according to his LinkedIn
  profile.
  Lockton said Folk cut his teeth as a senior operations leader at
  a Fortune 100 food manufacturing company before joining the
  insurance industry.
  Folk will help spearhead Lockton's healthcare
  
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• Irma 'poses risk' to 13-S&P rated cat bonds

  08-09-2017 12:43
  Hurricane Irma poses a risk to 13 cat bonds rated by S&P
  Global Ratings, the ratings agency said today.
  It issued the warning using its own data and taking into account
  the storm's threat to the US mainland.
  The 13 bonds include those that could be at risk of triggering
  or incurring a reduction in the retention layer because of losses
  Irma could produce.
  The $250mn Kilimanjaro Re 2014-1 class A notes are considered to be
  at risk, with hurricanes...
  
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• Chubb teams up with Swiss Re to launch flight delay cover

  08-09-2017 12:36
  Chubb launches new flight delay cover
  
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• Principal Insurance recruits ex-Autonet boss

  08-09-2017 11:51
  Principal Insurance has recruited Penny Wardale to the newly created boardroom position of HR, training and compliance director.
  
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• Insurance Cares: Insuring customer journeys

  08-09-2017 11:43
  Eric Leenders of UK Finance explains how developments in how banks help vulnerable customers prove that the insurance sector can achieve the same outcomes.
  
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• Direct Line hires Prudential director to replace departing CFO

  08-09-2017 11:35
  New chief financial officer for Direct Line
  
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• Sutton Winson reveals rising profits

  08-09-2017 11:30
  Broker posts rise in turnover to £8.25m for the year ended 31 March 2017.
  
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• Quizzical questions: 8 September 2017

  08-09-2017 11:30
  Test your knowledge of the week's news with our topical quiz.
  
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• Penny James succeeds John Reizenstein as Direct Line CFO

  08-09-2017 11:15
  Direct Line has appointed Penny James to succeed John Reizenstein as chief financial officer.
  
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• This Month in Post: Discount, diversity and data

  08-09-2017 11:12
  There was some good news and some bad news this week for the insurance industry.
  
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• Magnitude 8 quake hits Mexico

  08-09-2017 09:30
  A magnitude 8.1 earthquake has been reported off the southern
  coast of Mexico, triggering tsunami warnings for the region.
  The quake struck 200km south-west of the city of Tuxtla
  Gutiérrez just after midnight on Thursday local time, and was
  said to be the strongest earthquake to hit the country since 1985,
  according to the civil protection agency.
  Two people are reported to have died in Mexico, while
  Guatemala's president also reported at least one death in his
  country.
  The Pacific...
  
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• Lloyd's Miami windstorm RDS sees $131bn insured loss

  08-09-2017 09:30
  Lloyd's latest realistic disaster scenario (RDS) assumes a
  $131bn total insured loss from a Miami-Dade windstorm event, as
  Category 5 Hurricane Irma threatens to bear down on the Floridian
  county.
  The RDS, which Lloyd's states is compulsory for managing
  agents to model their losses for, envisages more than 15 percent
  damage to the Floridian counties of Miami-Dade and Broward, and
  between 3 and 6 percent damage for Collier and Palm Beach.
  In this scenario, Lloyd's envisages a $66bn insured loss..
  
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• Guy Carpenter names Pacific CEO

  08-09-2017 09:30
  Guy Carpenter has appointed Swiss Re's Andre Eisele to CEO
  of the Pacific region, while adding Heinrich Eder to the firm's
  advisory board for the region.
  Over the last three years, Eisele has been Swiss Re's head
  of client markets in property and casualty for Australia and New
  Zealand.
  In his new role, he will be based in Sydney and report to Tony
  Gallagher, Asia Pacific CEO for Guy Carpenter.
  Eder's most recent position was managing director of Munich
  Holdings...
  
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• Michael Donegan receives millions of Ardonagh shares after role change

  08-09-2017 09:30
  Michael Donegan to receive shares following appointment as Ardonagh adviser
  
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• Enterprise won’t refund us over a car crash that wasn’t our fault

  08-09-2017 08:00
  We paid €850 excess on the condition it would be reimbursed. A year later, we are no nearer to getting our money backIn July 2016 my partner and I rented a car from Enterprise in France. During our holiday we were hit from behind and the other driver signed a statement admitting he was responsible for the crash. When we returned the car Enterprise made us pay €850 (£780), which it promised to return after it had collected payment from the other driver’s insurer.
  Last Novemb
  
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• L&G in digital tie up with SSP

  08-09-2017 07:00
  L&G in digital tie up with SSP on home insurance
  
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• Hurricane Irma likely to batter insurers on many fronts

  08-09-2017 06:02
  Underestimating risks is a serious concern for companies, investors and taxpayers
  
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• Irma beats up insurer shares as threat to Miami looms

  08-09-2017 04:23
  Hurricane Irma's destruction spread into equity markets
  again today as fears of the storm's impact drove down insurance
  sector shares almost across the board in New York.
  The decliners were led by Florida-focused primary carriers and
  some Bermudian reinsurers as Irma advanced toward southern Florida
  after laying waste to Caribbean islands, including Barbuda and St
  Martin. The historic category 5 storm showed few signs of weakening
  late today with sustained winds of about 175mph.
  Federated Nation
  
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• Investors in catastrophe bonds flee Irma fury

  08-09-2017 03:45
  Fall in prices of assets that pay insurers if they suffer cataclysmic losses
  
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• Irma's destruction emerges in the Caribbean

  08-09-2017 00:59
  Hurricane Irma's battering winds and surging waves wiped out
  nearly all the structures on both Barbuda and St Martin when the
  Category 5 storm swept over the Caribbean islands overnight.
  A state of emergency has been declared in the US Virgin Islands
  and infrastructure damage was reported in the British part of the
  chain, AIR Worldwide said today.
  On Barbuda, Prime Minister Gaston Browne told reporters that 90
  percent of buildings on the island had been destroyed and that half...
  
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• Irma poses a risk to 13 cat bonds: S&P

  08-09-2017 00:59
  Hurricane Irma poses a risk to 13 cat bonds, S&P Global
  Ratings said today, based on its data and the storm's threat to
  the US mainland.The 13 bonds include those that could be at risk of triggering or
  incurring a reduction in the retention layer because of losses Irma
  could produce.The $250mn Kilimanjaro Re 2014-1 class A notes are considered to be
  at risk, with hurricanes making up 100 percent of the modelled
  annual expected loss, including 92.2...
  
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• Hurricane aid may breathe life into NFIP

  08-09-2017 00:59
  A three-month extension of the National Flood Insurance Program,
  or NFIP, was bundled into an emergency hurricane aid package that
  passed in the US Senate today in a move that would ensure the
  programme stays in business past the end of this month if it wins
  approval in the House of Representatives.
  House Financial Services Committee chairman Jeb Hensarling, a
  Texas representative whose panel oversees the programme, yesterday
  indicated he would accept a short-term extension of NFIP and would
  onl
  
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• FTSE insurers offer playbook for winning policy decisions

  08-09-2017 00:20
  Blue-chip groups secure multibillion-pound concession from the Ministry of Justice
  
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