Casualty/liability

The threat posed to insurers by Chinese drywalls

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Insurers could face a slew of claims related to Chinese drywall emissions, despite a lack of evidence that the emissions are linked to health problems.

Harbor Point earns outlook change from S&P

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Bermudian reinsurer Harbor Point has had its outlook on its A- ratings from Standard & Poor’s (S&P) revised.

XL and Aon launch Irish solicitors’ PI cover

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

XL Insurance and Aon have entered into an exclusive partnership to bring new capacity to the solicitors' professional indemnity (PI) market in Ireland.

Rate hikes needed for S&P to brighten outlook

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

S&P is maintaining its negative outlook on the US property/casualty industry, largely as a result of price declines on most lines of business, says Tom Upton, managing director of financial institutions ratings for S&P’s North American insurance rating business.

Sampson issues rallying call for 2010

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

David Sampson, president and CEO of the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, highlighted four overarching challenges facing the industry in his opening speech at the PCI conference in Orlando.

Towers Perrin warns of inflationary threat

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Future inflation may damage reinsurers’ profitability on all lines of business, with casualty lines of business likely to be hardest hit, Towers Perrin has warned.

European Cedant Rankings: Reinsurance buying patterns less affected by the financial crisis than expected

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

AM Best analyses how the top European cedants have changed in the past year.

Hard market is not dead, says Execution

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

According to analysts at agency broker Execution, the hard market is not dead, despite the disappointment of the hard market anticipated for 2009 across all lines business.

Monte Carlo round-up: A good place to gossip

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Although more low key than previous years, there was still much to chat about at this year’s Monte Carlo Rendez-Vous.

FEATURE: AIG down, but not out

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

AIG has taken a beating in the past year but has not been knocked out. Reactions looks back at the year and asks AIG executives, shareholders and analysts whether it can get back on its feet.

Stanford allowed access to D&O policy

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Sir Allen Stanford, the founder of Stanford Financial Group who was accused of operating a $7bn Ponzi scheme, has been allowed to use the proceeds of a corporate insurance policy to pay defence lawyers.

FEATURE: European liability insurers braced for claims

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

D&O and E&O insurers in Europe expect to fare better than their American counterparts in the financial crisis. But the threat of increasing claims still looms.

Swedish court decision to hurt insurers

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

In a recent judgement, the Swedish Supreme Court overturned a long-standing insurance practice relating how concurrent causes of loss of income are handled in personal injury cases, a report from reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter has highlighted.

INTERVIEW: Fox looks to set TigerRisk apart

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The new investment fund available to US reinsurance broker TigerRisk Partners will enable it to expand and further challenge the big three reinsurance brokers Rod Fox, CEO of TigerRisk has told Reactions

Raising rates is “nearly impossible” in US

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Profits are sharply lower and tens of billions of dollars have been wiped from their balance sheets, but insurers continue to renew commercial property and casualty insurance programs at deeply depressed rates, according to the Rims benchmark survey

Dual launches Ireland branch

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Dual Corporate Risks, a specialist directors’ and officers’ and professional indemnity underwriting agency for mid-market companies, is to open its Irish branch on October 6.

Torus forms Bermuda MGA

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Torus has formed a managing general agent in Bermuda for Torus Insurance UK to expand its distribution network, the company announced Wednesday.

UK non-life strong, but challenges ahead

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

A new report from AM Best states that the absence of large weather-related losses, cautious investment and positive reserve development led to an overall improved underwriting performance compared with 2007.

Stanford denied access to Lloyd’s funds

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Sir Allen Stanford, the financier accused of operating a $7bn Ponzi scheme, has been denied access to insurance funds to pay his legal bills.

US P/C net income tumbles in H1 2009: PCI

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

US property/casualty insurers’ net income fell 59.3% to $5.8bn in the first-half of 2009 from $14.1bn in 2008, results from the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America and the Insurance Services Office reveal.

Ironshore launches energy casualty unit

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Ironshore has established a dedicated energy casualty division, as an extension of its global energy unit.

Commercial D&O rates fell 5% in Q2

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The average D&O premium for commercial business fell 5% in the second quarter, according to a new survey from Willis.

Ulrich Wallin: a safe pair of hands

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Ulrich Wallin took over from Wilhelm Zeller as CEO of Hannover Re at the start of July. In the wake of the financial turmoil last year, his quieter, pragmatic approach may be just what the company needs.

D&O rates no longer in decline: MarketScout

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

In August 2009, after almost three years of rate reductions, pricing for D&O insurance is no longer in decline, according to a study by MarketScout, an online insurance exchange.

Kramer says merger talk “off the wall”

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Rumours at this year’s Monte Carlo Rendez-Vous that Bermudian reinsurer Ariel Re is on the cusp of a potential merger with fellow Bermudian Harbor Point are “off the wall”, according to Don Kramer, CEO of Ariel.

ABI launches lawyers PI guide

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA), The Law Society and The Association of British Insurers (ABI) have launched a guide to buying professional indemnity insurance for solicitors.

AM Best gives Scor a positive outlook

Sun, 06 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Rating agency AM Best has changed its outlook on French reinsurer Scor and its rated subsidiaries to positive from stable.

Raters’ gloomy outlook for reinsurers

Sun, 06 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The four main rating agencies – AM Best, Fitch, Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s – have delivered different views on the reinsurance industry’s outlook in their global reinsurance reports launched ahead of the Monte Carlo Rendez-Vouz.

Economic inflation a concern for casualty classes

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Ross Howard, chief operating officer for Europe at Towers Perrin at Towers Perrin, has warned that reinsurers must not take their eyes off casualty business at a time when firms tend to focus more on peak property-catastrophe risks.

Aon Benfield feeling good one year on

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Dominic Christian, CEO of Aon Benfield International, says the firm is feeling good one year on from the two brokers’ announcement in the run-up to last year's Monte Carlo Rendez-Vous that they were to merge.