U.S. Wildfires Seen Costing Insurers Under $3 Billion

Wildfire CA

Insurance industry losses from U.S. wildfires so far this year could total less than $3 billion, according to an estimate from one insurance analyst. Cathy Seifert, insurance analyst at CFRA Research, notes that more than 40,000 wildfires, mostly concentrated on the West Coast, have burned more 4.7 million acres through Sept. 8, based on the… Continue reading U.S. Wildfires Seen Costing Insurers Under $3 Billion

Wildfires Hasten Another Climate Crisis: Homeowners Who Can’t Get Insurance

wildfires and smoke

As wildfires burn homes across California, the state is also grappling with a different kind of climate predicament: How to stop insurers from abandoning fire-prone areas, leaving countless homeowners at risk. Years of megafires have caused huge losses for insurance companies, a problem so severe that, last year, California temporarily banned insurers from canceling policies… Continue reading Wildfires Hasten Another Climate Crisis: Homeowners Who Can’t Get Insurance

Insurers Struggling to Estimate Losses from COVID-19 Fallout

Microscopic illustration of the spreading 2019 corona virus that was discovered in Wuhan, China. The image is an artisic but scientific interpretation, with all relevant surface details of this particular virus in place, including Spike Glycoproteins, Hemagglutinin-esterase, E- and M-Proteins and Envelope.

Insurers are normally great with numbers. But the coronavirus pandemic has them struggling to estimate how many billions of dollars in losses they face, and what the fallout will be for their massive investment portfolios. Executives, lawyers and analysts say the cost is sure to be multiples of prior catastrophes like Hurricane Katrina, the Tōhoku… Continue reading Insurers Struggling to Estimate Losses from COVID-19 Fallout

Insurers Face Double Whammy from Coronavirus Crisis

Microscopic illustration of the spreading 2019 corona virus that was discovered in Wuhan, China. The image is an artisic but scientific interpretation, with all relevant surface details of this particular virus in place, including Spike Glycoproteins, Hemagglutinin-esterase, E- and M-Proteins and Envelope.

Having initially brushed off the potential impact from coronavirus-linked claims, global insurers are waking up to the prospect of a double whammy – a sharp rise in payouts at a time of big investment losses. Because epidemics are excluded from many business insurance policies, the early prognosis was for a low levels of claims. But… Continue reading Insurers Face Double Whammy from Coronavirus Crisis

Fire and Hail Push Insurers to Rethink Climate Change Risks

climate change and health insurance

By the time David Kaisel got back from selling his flour at a farmers’ market, a wildfire in California’s Capay Valley had burned both his tractor and the shipping container where he kept some tools. His insurer is set to pay out a sixth of his losses. He is now considering widening his coverage in… Continue reading Fire and Hail Push Insurers to Rethink Climate Change Risks