Inside FAC April 2020

What a difference a month makes. Not only have we all discovered a new way of working, but we are seeing the rapid proposal of another federal insurance backstop in the US...

The facultative reinsurance market experienced a robust renewal period up to 1 April, but participants are uncertain whether renewals later in the year will be as straightforward...

Property direct and facultative (D&F) underwriters saw a continuation of the upwards trend in rating at 1 April, with some carriers expecting rate increases to carry on unchecked up to 1 July.

The loss of an Indonesian communications satellite and its Chinese launch vehicle is widely expected to be an insured loss of around $250mn, Inside FAC has learned.

Hiscox, which has come under fire in recent weeks for taking a firm line on potential claims for business interruption (BI) caused by the Covid-19 lockdown, has responded to criticisms of its stance.

Paul O’Neill, who left his role as CUO of specialty lines at Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) at the end of September, is to return to the market at RKH Specialty in Singapore.

Moves afoot in Congress to mandate coverage for business interruption (BI) claims stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic have been roundly condemned by the US insurance industry.

Willis Towers Watson has halted the sale of its London wholesale and specialist broking arm Miller as the (re)insurance market faces up to the uncertainty created by the Covid-19 virus outbreak.

Ed Broking has placed its reinsurance leadership team under a 30-day redundancy consultation, according to sister publication Insurance Insider.

(Re)insurers’ notifications of their likely exposure to coronavirus-related losses picked up speed with the news that Aviva has put its reinsurers on notice of a likely C$400mn-C$800mn BI claim.

Swiss Re has raised its estimate for global insured catastrophe losses in 2019 to $60bn, up from the $56bn it predicted in December.

The contingency market is likely to be on the hook for an insured loss of up to £100mn ($125mn) from the cancellation of the Wimbledon tennis tournament.

A series of tornadoes across several US states in early March caused estimated economic losses in excess of $1.1bn, with around three quarters of that total covered by insurance, according to Aon.

AM Best downgraded its ratings outlook for Aspen to negative from stable as the carrier’s Lloyd’s syndicate reported a 2019 combined ratio of 139 percent.

Munich Re has withdrawn its profit guidance for 2020 due to concerns about the likely loss burden from the global Covid-19 outbreak.

The number of unique PPL users has jumped by 40 percent since the middle of March, as the insurance market has increased its reliance on e-trading during the coronavirus pandemic lockdown.

Amid the media hyperbole around coronavirus, the indications that this crisis will significantly change the way we work are already showing in the (re)insurance sector

Paul Summers, former head of international at GC Fac, who stepped into his new role at McGill and Partners on 6 April, says the firm’s financial structure drives ‘total collaboration’

With the full gamut of natural catastrophe exposures, fluctuating (re)insurance capacity and the developing Covid-19 crisis, the Mexican market is under pressure from all sides, writes Helen Yates

Attritional losses, carrier exits and tightened capacity have contributed to construction business opportunities for the D&F market, David Benyon reports

Ed has expanded its professional and executive risk team with the appointment of Niraj Perera as head of transactional. Perera