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…
GVNW and Airmic have warned that the hardening insurance market will be a long-term, seismic shift, after recent membership surveys revealed big changes in the price, scope and availability of cover. The surveys also showed widespread dissatisfaction in the way insurers and brokers are handling the changing conditions, with the associations keen to let the market know it could lose…
Europe’s data protection regulators have shown wide differences in General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) fines and been inconsistent in dealing with cyber incidents, according to analysis from Beazley. In its latest Breach Insights article, Beazley says there has been little consistency so far even though the same rules apply across Europe. Beazley notes that although GDPR regulatory activity has picked up,…
Zurich has teamed with cybersecurity expert CYE to offer a new global cyber risk management service. Available across the world, Zurich Cyber Security Services combines the insurer’s specialist cyber insurance and risk engineering capabilities with CYE’s artificial intelligence-based technology, services and expertise. Zurich said the service addresses the full spectrum of cyber risks by helping businesses define and deploy effective…
Bermuda’s Arch Capital has acquired a 29.5% stake in French trade credit insurer Coface from Natixis in a deal valued at €480m. Announcing the move, Arch said it does not intend to take a majority stake in Coface for 12 months after the current transaction closes. Commenting on the deal, ratings agency Moody’s said Arch’s investment is credit positive for…
European and US insurers are likely to comfortably deal with claims from the current coronavirus outbreak, according to S&P. However, it warned that given China’s importance in a “just-in-time world”, contingent business interruption claims could arise anywhere across the globe. But the ratings agency said any claims will fall within the range of capital buffers at insurers and reinsurers in…
Aon said it is now clear that risk managers are heading towards a hard commercial insurance market in Europe following a decisive break in the last quarter of 2019, and warned there will be at least two years of rate increases before any stabilisation. Aon’s global chief broking officer, Hugo Wegbrans, said the firm’s Navigating a Changing Insurance Market report last…
The impact of Covid-19 hit Europe hard over the weekend, as the Italian government in particular took drastic action to try and halt a fast-rising number of cases in the country. The Italian authorities placed several northern towns on lockdown as there were reports of up to 150 cases in the country by Sunday evening, up from the World Health…
With insurance cover limited, many companies in the maritime industry will be forced to take a financial hit from the coronavirus outbreak, law firm DWF has warned, adding that the bill is likely to run into “billions of dollars”. In a comment on the impact of the virus outbreak on maritime and trade, Jonathan Moss, head of marine and trade…
Leading economies in the Asia-Pacific region are feeling the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, as manufacturing figures in Japan and Australia slumped and South Korea’s exports to China fell – a key bellwether of the health of the regional economy. The gloomy manufacturing and export figures came as the World Health Organization reported on Sunday morning (23 Feb) central European…