Wildfire
-
Experts agreed that investment in understanding wildfire risk had come a long way in recent years.
-
Large carriers with geographic spread across the continental US will have the capital and reinsurance coverage to absorb losses related to the wildfires, according to AM Best.
-
Homeowners’ and commercial insurance policies typically exclude floods, mudslides, debris flow and other similar disasters unless directly or indirectly caused by a recent wildfire.
-
Primary writers of homeowners and commercial property are exposed, while reinsurers could face wildfire losses.
-
The modelling agent estimated that the total number of buildings within the fire perimeter is approximately 3,500.
-
Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from the island, and nearly 14,000 Maui residents remain without power.
-
Compelling rates are on offer for markets willing to write wildfire risk in the sunshine state.
-
The parties will develop climate-conditioned wildfire event catalogs to support cat modelling.
-
Pacific Gas and Electric Company told investors in November that it expects to recover $569mn from its insurers on a potential $1.15bn liability relating to the Dixie Fire in California.
-
The fundraise will support collateralised reinsurance deals with the firm initially targeting Californian wildfires.
-
The third wildfire cat bond for the California utility will be its largest to date
-
Hot and dry weather conditions increase the challenges as Dixie and Caldor near full containment.
-
The fire has burned through more than 215,400 acres and spread across the counties of El Dorado and Amador.
-
Casinos and ski resorts have shut down, and hotels are housing firefighters in usually buzzing holiday destinations near South Lake Tahoe, California.
-
The Caldor Fire, which is 18% contained, has been active for 17 days and in that time destroyed 675 structures and damaged 40.
-
It has just one class of notes which will trigger on an indemnity, per occurrence basis against any wildfire in the state of California.
-
So far, damage costs caused by the California fire are thought to be below $1bn.
-
Winds and high temperatures point to potential further growth of the blaze.
-
Citing this summer’s heat waves and the drought across the West, AM Best warns that insured wildfire loss totals may climb higher than 2020’s $1.2 bn.
-
In the later stages of its liquidation, the manager’s listed fund has made an 8% uplift in May on fire releases.
-
The California Insurance Working Group suggested the policy to cover areas with high wildfire risk.
-
Policyholders have filed some 730 claims after fires hit hills outside the western city.
-
Event definitions were also tightened at renewals, the broker said.
-
Insurers already face A$40mn in claims, a level set to rise and potentially affect reinsurance.
-
The utility did not disclose which insurers would receive payments.
-
The broker’s figure is 40% higher than its annual average for the 21st century, with the bulk of losses coming from the US.
-
Evacuation orders were issued for 120 homes near San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties.
-
The spread rose 9% during the course of marketing.
-
The year was marked by record North Atlantic storms, which put the loss tally more than 40% ahead of mild 2019 experience.
-
A total of 24 million hectares of land was burnt in the worst bushfire season on record.
-
California blazes including the Glass Fire have driven up the estimate considerably since September.
-
Natural catastrophe losses were up 40% year-on-year to $76bn, 7% above the 10-year average.
-
The event is the most costly wildfire loss to hit New Zealand in recent times.
-
Nearly 80% of respondents said underwriting capacity decreased in the quarter.
-
Purchasing the analytics firm will help Willis meet growing demand for climate change services.
-
Over 10,000 structures have been destroyed in California alone, Aon said.
-
The new issuance is thought to be the municipal utility’s first foray into the cat bond market
-
Local reports suggest that utility Southern California Edison may be linked to the fire.
-
Kettle will operate as an MGA and “micro-reinsurer”, and sees itself as part of a new wave of InsurTechs.
-
The East Troublesome and Cameron Peak fires are two of the largest blazes in the state, with fears they could merge.
-
Sources estimate that 70%-85% of subrogation recoveries are already complete.
-
The NZ Super Fund is reviewing its portfolio in line with a revised climate strategy.
-
The 2020 figure tops the 1.96 million-acre high of 2018, when fires cost the industry around $18bn.
-
The fire is threatening 22,310 acres and has destroyed or damaged key wineries in Napa Valley.
-
Structures damaged or destroyed include the Meadowood Napa Valley resort and Medieval-style winery Castello di Amorosa.
-
The Glass Fire has destroyed the Chateau Boswell winery to the north of St Helena, California, CNN reported.
-
All three fires are prompting evacuation orders in Napa and Sonoma counties.
-
Total insured losses are well up on 2019, but the severity of individual blazes is not likely to impact reinsurers extensively.
-
The utility will draw down $843mn of its own insurance to help meet settlement costs related to the Thomas and Koenigstein fires, and the 2018 Montecito mudslides.
-
The vendor said about $3bn-$5bn of the loss total would come from Northern California, while between $1bn-$3bn would stem from Washington and Oregon.
-
The ratings agency says 2020 is already the third-highest year for California wildfire insured losses.
-
Meanwhile, in neighboring California, the largest wildfire, the August Complex, has burnt 755,603 acres of land.
-
The US National Weather Service issued a critical fire weather warning for parts of Idaho, Montana, California, Nevada and Oregon on Monday.
-
Record heat, dry conditions and strong winds have helped wildfires spread, Aon said.
-
In California, the August Complex in Tehama County has become the largest wildfire in the state’s history.
-
In Lane County, Oregon, more than 100 buildings have been lost in a forest fire that local officials warned is likely to have killed residents.
-
The figure tops the 2018 high and comes ahead of the peak fire period.
-
Ricardo Lara’s office says it has received “numerous complaints” from policyholders about additional living expense payments being terminated.
-
An “excessive heat watch” is in effect for coastal, inland and foothill regions, Cal Fire has warned.
-
Cal Fire says the SCU blaze in southern California is also 60% contained.
-
Cal Fire says the blaze in central California has been 35% contained.
-
The ratings agency predicts a potential retreat of certain E&S carriers.
-
The ratings agency says lockdown measures could pump up the repair bill.
-
The number of structures destroyed is closing in on levels recorded from some 2017-2018 fires.
-
The blaze in northern California has so far burnt more than 350,000 acres and is 22% contained.
-
Thousands have been forced to evacuate across northern and central California.
-
Evacuation orders are in place across northern California, including for the 120,000-strong city of Healdsburg near Santa Rosa.
-
Almost 350,000 acres burn in the Golden State as firefighters battle two major blazes west of Denver.
-
The state has been under a “historic lightning siege”, a CalFire spokesperson told a press conference Wednesday.
-
There are now 26 active incidents across the state due to heatwave conditions and sustained winds.
-
The Lake Fire is now 38% contained, though 4,570 structures remain under threat.
-
A fire tornado is formed when rising heat combines with turbulent wind conditions, creating towers of flame and ash.
-
The fire grew to 10,000 acres within the first two hours and now threatens around 5,420 structures.
-
The estimated containment date for the fire is 17 August, according to the US Forest Service.
-
The blaze started on Friday and had spread to over 20,000 acres by Monday morning.
-
The California utility said it is still pursuing additional limit.
-
The utility spent 13% more to secure its insurance but cut back third-party cover to $870mn.
-
The utility company emerged from Chapter 11 earlier this month following an $11bn settlement with insurers.
-
The estimate marks a 19 percent deterioration on a February forecast.
-
The interim CEO said this marks a new era for the utility firm.
-
The deal settled at the low end of the revised spread guidance.
-
The firm has narrowed its price guidance range, suggesting a higher multiple.
-
The utility expects to emerge from Chapter 11 in July after a bankruptcy court approves its settlement.
-
The deal will add to $125mn of ILS cover that the electricity provider has from an earlier transaction.
-
The California governor had opposed the package as he was concerned the company was taking on too much debt.
-
The fund helps compensate victims for losses from fires started by the utilities’ equipment.
-
The insurer lifted the attachment on an aggregate portion of its group reinsurance treaty, which was otherwise unchanged after its restructure for 2019.
-
Overall losses during the bushfire season total a record A$1.9bn.
-
The storms will compound wildfire losses and put reinsurers on Suncorp's aggregate covers on watch.
-
Quota share and aggregate-property cat contracts are under watch as a result of the recent Australian bushfires but occurrence covers will probably remain mostly unscathed, sources expect.
-
The exposure to this transaction across private ILS strategies varies from 1.7 percent to 1.9 percent of November's portfolio, the manager said.
-
Claims from the catastrophe have increased to 13,750 up from 10,550 at the end of last week, the ICA told local media
-
As more claims emerge from the December-January fires, aggregate reinsurance contracts will be exposed to rising losses.
-
Natural hazard losses have put the carrier’s aggregate reinsurance covers closer to triggering.
-
The bushfires have drawn attention to extended hours clauses that allow insurers to group together claims as a single event.
-
More claims are expected to be lodged in coming days and weeks.
-
The Australian insurance organisation put cumulative insured losses at A$431mn ($299.1mn) for the bushfire season.
-
The Australian carrier boosted its overall reinsurance cover but cut back aggregate protection.
-
More than 400 claims were lodged in the past day.
-
While temperatures hit 40c in every state and territory early this week, strong winds and lightning strikes in certain regions fed the flames.
-
The weather is expected to cool in the coming days but more high temperatures are due later in the week.
-
Damaging wildfires in recent years have made it more challenging for homeowners to find affordable insurance.
-
More than 830 homes and 62 facilities have been destroyed in NSW so far this fire season.
-
It also put an A$166mn tally on a November Queensland hailstorm.
-
The 2018 event cost insurers A$798mn, but storms and bushfires over the past month are not yet costly enough to be tracked by the agency.
-
A bankruptcy court judge approved the utility's planned settlements with insurers and victims yesterday.
-
California Governor Gavin Newsom told PG&E on Friday that the current deal fails to comply with state law.
-
In its latest update at 07:00 London time, New South Wales Rural Fire Service said there were two fires with an emergency warning.
-
The settlements must be approved by California’s governor as well as court judges to enable the utility to exit.
-
Approval of the settlement agreement puts PG&E on a path to emerge from Chapter 11 by 30 June, which is the deadline to participate in California’s wildfire fund.
-
An estimated 683 homes have now been burned as a result of the blazes.
-
The settlement with individual wildfire victims will ease the way for the payout of $11bn in insurance subrogation claims.
-
The Insurance Council of Australia has tracked A$110mn ($75mn) of bushfire losses as it declared the Sunshine Coast hailstorm a catastrophe.
-
The deal covered damage from the 2017 Thomas and Koenigstein fires and the 2018 Woolsey Fire.
-
The Insurance Council of Australia anticipates many more claims in the coming weeks.
-
More than 150 homes have been destroyed as fires blaze across New South Wales and Queensland, according to reports.
-
The New South Wales Rural Fire Service has forecast catastrophic fire conditions – the gravest possible forecast.
-
The class C notes are being offered with an initial guidance of 525-575 bps.
-
The Kincade Fire in Sonoma County, the Simi Fire in Ventura County and the Getty Fire on the outskirts of Los Angeles are almost extinguished.
-
As many as 374 structures had been destroyed, 60 had been damaged and 405 remained threatened.
-
It will be many months before the $11bn payout agreed between Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) filters through to the (re)insurance and ILS markets, with this lump sum likely to benefit some parties more than others.
-
Emergency services are attempting to stop one fire from spreading to valuable avocado and citrus orchards nearby.
-
CoreLogic exposure data suggested homes worth hundreds of millions were at risk.
-
Wildfire recoveries benefitted DaVinci investors and RenRe's retro partners in Q3.
-
At this stage, destroyed property numbers remain well below the thousands impacted in the major 2017-2018 fires.
-
Firefighters have made some progress containing the Tick Fire in Southern California, but high-value suburbs have been evacuated due to the Getty Fire.
-
Around 80,000 properties remain under threat from the fire, which is only 5 percent contained.
-
Thousands have been evacuated from their properties as wildfires break out in Sonoma County and Los Angeles County.
-
The Saddleridge fire has destroyed 17 structures and damaged a further 77 properties.
-
Saddleridge is one of several wildfires to have hit California in recent days, with nearly 160,000 acres and 134 structures destroyed.
-
The wildfire is threatening 13,000 homes and more than 100,000 people have evacuated.
-
Pacific Gas & Electric Company has inked its $11bn wildfire insurance subrogation claims deal and criticised an alternative plan put forward.
-
The utility firm also criticised an alternative Chapter 11 proposal led by Elliott Management.
-
The settlement was midway between the $20bn insurers sought and an earlier $8.5bn offer.
-
The programme has been designed to provide $2bn of excess cover for Sempra and CalEdison.
-
PG&E will be excluded from the initial reinsurance for the California Wildfire Fund.
-
Non-renewals initiated by insurers surged by 10 percent in the areas of California worst affected by wildfires between 2015 and 2017.
-
The decision to allow the case to go to trial came despite state officials clearing the utility of responsibility in January.
-
The law creating the $21bn fund to be administered by the California Earthquake Authority was passed in July.
-
Since the 2017 and 2018 California wildfires reinsurers have become increasingly cautious of the risk, the rating agency said.
-
The fund now has £159.4mn allocated to ILS through Leadenhall Capital Partners.
-
The department said that the state’s special fund was not likely to have the resources to support spending on insurance.
-
Its parent career restarted writing business in Q2, assuming $1.1mn of premiums.
-
As interim administrator of the fund, the CEA will approve measures to sign up risk transfer services.
-
The California-based carrier raised its retention to $40mn, citing high rates.
-
The personal line carrier’s Camp Fire loss estimate is believed to have fallen from $1.8bn to $1.75bn.
-
The proposed legislation would enable the state’s governor to tap the ILS market for coverage.
-
The Californian utility company reached the agreement with 18 public entities after a series of wildfires between 2015 and 2018.
-
The model will also capture sub-perils including ground-shaking liquefaction, landslide, tsunami and fire following earthquakes.
-
The Toronto-based firm had already been collaborating with Perils for the past two years.
-
The legislation now passes to the state’s Assembly.
-
The bill still needs to pass two further Senate votes before heading to the state’s Assembly.
-
This will have implications for Allstate, State Farm, USAA and other insurers which have sued the utility over Camp Fire losses.
-
-
The sidecar’s main exposure is European wind risk.
-
The expected losses from the December hailstorm in Sydney have risen from A$871mn to A$1.2bn.
-
There is uncertainty around whether it will ultimately be the ILS market or the traditional reinsurance market that drives wildfire re-pricing, panellists said at the Sifma IRLS conference in Miami.
-
The sidecar’s cat claims came in just under the $323.7mn level recorded in 2017.
-
The utility’s total pre-tax charges for the 2018 Camp Fire and 2017 Northern California wildfires now stand at $14bn.
-
Anyone scanning the news stories we have covered in the past week might get a sense of déjà vu.
-
The legislation has been designed to help protect the state against the costs of natural disasters.
-
The insurer also dropped attachment points on its covers after cutting back its gross limits.
-
The insurer’s net Q4 2018 catastrophe losses ticked up by $6mn above initial estimates to $43mn.
-
A diverse loss year produced steeper wildfire and typhoon losses than initially estimated.
-
The move has pared back the carrier’s aggregate losses, benefiting Caelus cat bond investors.
-
The beleaguered Californian utility’s innovative $200mn wildfire liability catastrophe bond cost the company $26.8mn.
-
Overall cat bond losses are in line with modelled expectations but more claims have come from non-core perils than expected, Lane Financial analysts suggested.
-
The total has risen 25 percent, or more than $2.3bn, since last month.
-
The utility estimates that its liabilities to insurers for wildfires could exceed $30bn.
-
The utility still faces investigation for this year’s Camp Fire.
-
USAA’s losses put it on track to recoup another $82mn from its cat bonds, following a projected $182mn recovery in 2017.
-
The final couple of months of 2018 brought further pain for sidecar investors.
-
RenaissanceRe’s funds platform has taken significant losses.
-
It could take years to determine whether or not PG&E is responsible for the 2018 wildfires.
-
Cat bond investors have varying rights to share in subrogation benefits, as it has emerged following the Californian wildfires of 2017-2018.
-
The New York-listed company said in December it expected $17mn catastrophe losses in its Q4 results.
-
The Californian wildfires, Hurricane Michael and Typhoons Jebi and Trami pushed up losses.
-
The utility expects to source enough cash to finance its ongoing operations.
-
The utility is facing scrutiny over its possible role in sparking the blaze, which was the most destructive in California’s history.
-
Quota share and aggregate retro remain the most disrupted pockets of the market ahead of the January renewals, as underlying reinsurance looks flatter.
-
Last year’s feast has repeated on the market as Irma losses deteriorated, while fresh wildfires have caught out those who loaded up on liability exposure.
-
Regulators are currently investigating the beleaguered retro manager’s loss reserving.
-
The insurer said the range is consistent with industry insured losses of up to $20bn from the recent blazes.
-
Hurricane Michael and the California wildfires have trapped a significant portion of retro capacity, the analysts said.
-
The reinsurer’s Sigma report says just over half of economic losses were insured, as in 2017.
-
The insurer is understood to be exploring the possibility of claiming the Camp Fire as two separate events as it looks to maximise reinsurance recoveries.
-
The carrier’s $1.2bn gross loss from the two wildfires would trigger the carrier’s nationwide programme, which attaches above $500mn.
-
The vast bulk of the claims have come from the Camp Fire which has $7bn in insured losses to date.
-
The figure includes a $15-$19bn loss estimate from the recent Camp and Woolsey fires.
-
The losses relate to Hurricane Michael and the 2018 California wildfires, the Sompo International subsidiary said.
-
PCS has put out an initial $13.8bn combined loss figure for the Camp and Woolsey wildfires which tore through California in November, sources told Trading Risk.
-
Insurers are seeking to claim roughly $10bn through subrogation lawsuits against Pacific Gas and Electric in relation to the 2017 wildfire losses.
-
Trading Risk view: investor fatigue
-
The estimate puts the modelling firm’s combined November wildfire loss estimates at up to $13bn.
-
Beazley expects its (re)insurance losses from the recent Californian wildfires to amount to $40mn, it announced today.
-
The insurer’s general insurance CEO said shortages of retro capacity will drive rate change.
-
The insurer expects $1.8bn of losses from the Camp Fire and $475mn from the smaller Woolsey Fire.
-
The insurer's Michael losses are set to come in at the higher end of its $150mn-$250mn estimated range.
-
Woolsey was one of two highly destructive wildfires in California last month.
-
The estimate is in line with modelled loss estimates.
-
Bushfires have led to evacuations in the north of the country while Sydney has been hit by heavy rainfall.
-
The insurer forecast gross losses of $207mn from the Camp Fire and $46mn from Woolsey.
-
It estimated that damage from the Woolsey and Camp Fires in California will be worth between $15bn and $19bn.
-
The Woolsey Fire near Los Angeles has now been completely extinguished.
-
Sources suggested that average payouts would be well above face values of properties.
-
The insurer is expected to make significant recoveries from its aggregate cat bonds for the second year running.
-
Heavy rain is forecast to drench the areas affected by the wildfires Northern California on Tuesday evening local time.
-
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said the blaze was so far spread across 150,000 acres and was 65 percent contained.
-
The risk modeller expects $7.5bn-$10bn of insured losses from the Camp Fire and $1.5bn-$3bn from the Woolsey Fire.
-
Insured loss estimates for the storm have now pushed into the $10bn-$15bn range, from $5bn-$10bn estimates last week.
-
Morgan Stanley suggested the energy company’s liabilities could surpass $3bn, well above the trigger on the Cal Phoenix Re cat bond.
-
The Camp Fire and Woolsey Fire have now destroyed 10,000 and 504 buildings respectively.
-
The uptick is the result of more cat bond holders looking to sell, sources said.
-
Chubb and Travelers also face losses of around $400mn each should total insured losses hit $10bn, the analyst said.
-
CoreLogic’s analysis puts nearly 50,000 homes at “high or extreme” risk from the two largest fires in California.
-
The Camp Fire in Northern California has destroyed nearly 9,000 structures and still threatens 15,500 more.
-
The acreage burned so far this year is already almost double the amount last year, the ratings agency said.
-
The three fires have already destroyed 7,539 buildings, and threaten a further 15,000.
-
USAA is among the top 10 carriers with exposure to the loss and has already eroded aggregate deductibles for the current year of cover after this year’s hurricane season.
-
The power utility has cover for any wildfires caused by its infrastructure.
-
The wildfire in Butte County has led to widespread evacuations.
-
The $125mn cat bond remained unchanged in size, as pricing settled at the midpoint of the initial range.
-
The adjustments, which include extending claims deadlines and broadening loss categorisation, could lead to increases in carrier costs.
-
Utilities company Sempra Energy has become the second sponsor to bring a wildfire cat bond to the ILS market, with the launch of the $125mn SD Re.
-
Insured residential and commercial losses for the two fires which hit California in July and August have climbed to $845mn.
-
California has suffered another record-breaking wildfire season but the impact on the ILS market is likely to be marginal, sources have said.
-
The Swedish insurers’ association Svensk Forsakring has estimated the fires that swept through Swedish forests from May to July will lead to insured losses of SEK800mn ($87mn).
-
The latest version includes data from the 2017 Tubbs, Atlas and Thomas fires in California.
Most Recent
-
Louisiana Citizens bond Bayou Re upsizes 83% to $275mn
19 April 2024 -
Allstate pegs March pre-tax cat losses at $328mn
18 April 2024 -
PFZW’s ILS allocation drops 9% in Q1 to $8.3bn
18 April 2024