Articles by Susanne Sclafane

Sclafane is Executive Editor of Carrier Management, a publication of Wells Media Group serving property/casualty insurance carrier executives. She is a media professional with deep background in the P/C insurance industry including 25 years as editor and reporter for trade magazines, online news services, digital journals. Her prior experience includes 14 years as a casualty actuary.

Lawmaker Details Federal Reinsurance for Pandemic Business Interruption, Event Losses

New York Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney has introduced the Pandemic Risk Insurance Act of 2020, a federal backstop for pandemic-related business interruption insurance modeled after the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act. “This is the only bill I have written that people are …

P/C Insurers Back a Federal Pandemic Loss Fund But Not a Backstop Like TRIA

Property/casualty insurance carrier groups are developing a proposal for a federal program to replace revenues lost by businesses shut down during pandemics like COVID-19, but their program won’t be modeled after the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act as some have urged. …

Citing 9/11 Victims Fund, Lawmakers Eye U.S. Compensation Pool For COVID-19 Workers

A bipartisan group of federal lawmakers last week unveiled a plan to compensate essential workers who fall sick or die from COVID-19. The lawmakers are modeling their Pandemic Heroes Compensation Act after the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund. Reps. Carolyn …

Buffett Says Berkshire Would Write Pandemic Insurance. That Is, If the Price Is Right.

The chairman of Berkshire Hathaway said that while his insurance units aren’t heavily exposed to underwriting losses from the COVID-19 pandemic, the insurer would be willing to cover pandemics in the future. “The answer is we insure a lot of …

Buffett Says Berkshire Would Write Pandemic Insurance. That Is, If the Price Is Right.

The chairman of Berkshire Hathaway said that while his insurance units aren’t heavily exposed to underwriting losses from the COVID-19 pandemic, they would be willing to insure pandemics in the future. “The answer is we insure a lot of things. …

Analysts Tally Workers’ Comp Cost of Exposure to COVID-19

While the potential cost of relaxing a tenet of the workers’ compensation system to deal with extraordinary circumstances of COVID-19 could top $50 billion, it’s more likely to be one-fifth of that, an analyst reported recently. States like Michigan and …

Berkshire Discloses Q1 Insurance Results; Buffett Talks Coronavirus Impact

Berkshire Hathaway’s property/casualty insurance and reinsurance businesses reported a first quarter underwriting profit of $747 million before taxes, nearly double the pretax underwriting profit of $377 million recorded for first-quarter 2019. Property/casualty and life insurance and reinsurance businesses combined recorded …

Markel Estimates COVID-19 Losses of $325 Million

Diverging from strategies of some competitors, Markel Corp. established a big reserve for a chunk of its potential COVID-19 exposure for the entire year—putting up $325 million for direct potential losses. The holding company for specialty insurance and reinsurance, ILS …

Travelers, W.R. Berkley CEOs Sound Alarm Over Coronavirus Lawsuits, Workers’ Comp

During an earnings conference call Tuesday, the leader of Travelers insurance alerted listeners to the possibility that frivolous lawsuits by plaintiffs lawyers could slow down the economic recovery from COVID-19 shutdowns. Alan Schnitzer, whose company reported net income of $600 …

How Policy Silence on Pandemics May Bedevil Insurers on Coronavirus Claims

Silence may be deadly for property/casualty insurers writing commercial insurance, an executive of an insurtech that specializes in analyzing insurance policy language suggested recently, explaining that without specific words addressing pandemic risks, insurers might face claims down the road. In …