Catastrophe Risks

Secondary peril events are becoming more severe and are responsible for an increasingly large amount of insured losses, affecting the bottom lines of personal and commercial lines property insurance companies, according to a recent commentary from A.M. Best. Demographic shifts and population growth in catastrophe-prone areas add to the risk. Read More

An accounting of 2021's natural disasters shows those catastrophes continuing to grow in frequency and severity, as the protection gap between economic and insured losses continues to grow as well. Global insured catastrophe losses were $130 billion, while economic losses were $343 billion, according to a new report from Aon. Read More

CCRIF SPC and Guardian General Insurance Limited have signed a memorandum of understanding that will allow them to scale up a microinsurance program to protect individuals and organizations from economic losses resulting from extreme weather events such as high winds and heavy rainfall. Read More

Demand surge and increasing inflationary pressures on building costs will amplify losses from recent Colorado wildfires, according to A.M. Best. In a new commentary, "Demand Surge and Inflation Will Amplify Colorado Wildfire Losses," the rating agency noted that early industry estimates placed losses from December 2021's wildfires at approximately $1 billion. Read More

The world's two largest reinsurers differ slightly on total insured catastrophe losses in 2021, though both report a figure that ranks among the largest in history. Munich Re estimated $120 billion in insured natural disaster losses in 2021, while Swiss Re put the figure at $112 billion. Read More