Australian citizens and insurers are bracing themselves for another week of catastrophic losses as former Tropical Cyclone Esther tracks an unpredictable path across northern Australia and could re-intensify later in the week, according to the Bureau of Meteorology which described it as “a remarkable system”. Australia is still picking up the pieces of months of devastating bushfires that will cost…
The Chinese province of Hainan has launched an insurance product specifically designed to cover losses incurred by businesses as a result of the coronavirus outbreak in the country. According to reports citing a notice released by the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC), the scheme has set aside CNY200m ($28.7m) to cover payouts. The Hainan government will subsidise 70%…
The half-year results just published by two of Australia’s leading insurers – Suncorp and Insurance Australia Group (IAG) – show the immediate financial impact of the recent spate of natural catastrophes to hit the country. They also show the urgent need for the national emphasis to shift from damage repair and cleanup post-event to loss prevention, risk mitigation and management.…
The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA), the body that represents the Australian insurance industry, has accused leading consumer group CHOICE of causing “unnecessary and unjustified fear” among householders about the validity of their household insurance coverage, in relation to the bushfires that have devastated the country in recent months. CHOICE has not accused the insurers of dodging claims yet. But…
Risk managers in the Asia-Pacific region and worldwide need to brace themselves for a difficult start to 2020 as the rapidly escalating coronavirus outbreak in China and now worldwide hits the Chinese economy, global trade and supply chains, and equity prices. This year was predicted by many risk and insurance managers to be a difficult one as political risk rapidly…
The pressure on Japanese insurers and wider financial services groups to pull their backing from the climate-damaging coal sector has been intensified in recent weeks, as Japan’s environment minister Shinjiro Koizumi publicly stated that the use of public funds for the Vung Ang 2 coal-fired power-generation project in Vietnam was inconsistent with policies of the Japanese government. Mr Koizumi’s statement…
Workplace health and safety (WHS) could be the next big thing in the fast-growing Australian class action ‘market’ and could lead to payouts in the tens of millions of dollars, massive legal bills and the imprisonment of directors and officers for industrial manslaughter offences, according to a new note from law firm Norton Rose Fulbright. Australian directors and officers are…
Climate change and cyber warfare risks will be the two key London market topics that the International Underwriting Association (IUA), the body that represents the growing insurance company market in London outside of Lloyd’s, will focus upon in 2020, as stated in its latest business plan. The association announced this week that it has established a new market group to…
Australian risk managers, particularly those in the tourism industry, must brace themselves for tough renewals during 2020 as the bushfires that have devastated the country during the last two months continue to rage. A leading tourism association executive warned only last month that any “responsible” risk manager would accept that the mounting evidence of the dramatic impact of climate change…
Optio, the London-based MGA formed though the merger of Ascent Underwriting, Cove Programs and broker Bay Risk Services in September of 2018, has announced the acquisition of specialist political violence and terrorism MGA Newbridge Risk Partners for an undisclosed sum. Newbridge was formed in 2015 on the Castel platform, the specialist operation formed by London market underwriting group Barbican in…