According to a recent article in the New York Times, insurance and reinsurance companies from Japan and abroad, as well as hedge funds and other investors in catastrophe bonds, are expected to bear a relatively small portion of the losses stemming from the earthquake and resulting tsunami, which is expected to exceed $100 billion. By way of comparison, the 1995 earthquake in Kobe, Japan resulted in approximately $100 billion of damages, according to the Insurance Information Institute, but only about $3 billion of that was covered by insurance.
Catastrophe Claims
Deepwater Horizon Disaster: How’s BP’s $20 Billion Claim Fund Holding Up?
Kenneth Feinberg, the administrator of BP PLC’s $20 billion claim fund, recently stated that it is too soon to say whether liability payments related to the Deepwater Horizon disaster will end up exhausting all of the $20 billion BP set aside for all claims. …
Australian Cyclone Yasi Causes Major Damage, Exposes Potentially Significant Insurance Losses
According to a recent Reuters article, Cyclone Yasi is expected to cost insurers approximately AUS $3.5 billion in insured damage, according to Forecasting Service Tropical Storm Risk (“TSR”). Cyclone Yasi, a maximum strength category five storm about the size of Italy, has drawn much comparison with Hurricane Katrina, which caused massive damage to New Orleans and surrounding states in 2005. (Some estimate that the insured losses alone caused by Hurricane Katrina reached US $66 billion.) …
Study Finds Proposed Federal Role in Catastrophe Insurance Ineffective
A study released November 3, 2010 by the RAND Institute for Civil Justice and Risk Management Solutions (the “Study”) found that the Catastrophe Obligation Guarantee Act (S.886/ H.R.4014) (the “Proposed Legislation”) would only modestly increase insurance coverage for losses resulting from an earthquake in California. …
In Bloomberg Podcast, Alan Levin Looks at Liability Issues Arising from the BP Oil Spill
EAPD’s own Alan Levin, co-chair of the firm’s Insurance and Reinsurance Department, gave his thoughts on the insurance claims process and litigation resulting from the BP Plc oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, in an interview with Bloomberg’s Lee Pacchia.
To listen to this Podcast, please click here.…
Katrina: Claims To Continue Against Defendants Who Allegedly Caused the Emission of Greenhouse Gases That Added to the Ferocity of Hurricane Katrina
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Army Corps of Engineers Held Liable in the “MRGO” Katrina-Related Litigation
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Europe: PERILS AG Launches Industry Loss Index Service for European Windstorm Events
We have reported previously on the formation of PERILS AG to collect and provide industry-wide European catastrophe insurance data (click here for our most recent post). …
Katrina: Mississippi Supreme Court Finds that an Anti-Concurrent Causation Clause In a Homeowners’ Insurance Policy Does Not Exclude Coverage for Loss Separately Caused by Wind and Water
On October 8, 2009, the Mississippi Supreme Court issued its highly anticipated decision in Corban v. USAA Insurance Company, holding that the anti-concurrent causation (“ACC”) clause in a homeowners’ insurance policy is inapplicable where both wind and water did not act in conjunction in causing Katrina-related damages. …
Louisiana Insureds Petition the U.S. Supreme Court to Review a Fifth Circuit Decision Vacating that Portion of Katrina-Related Judgment that Awarded Penalties, Damages and Attorneys’ Fees Based on an Insurer’s Alleged Bad Faith
On July 21, 2009, Judy and Michael Kodrin filed a petition for a writ of certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the Supreme Court to review a Fifth Circuit decision vacating that portion of a Katrina-related judgment that awarded them penalties, damages and attorneys’ fees based on their homeowners insurer’s alleged bad faith. …