coronavirus losses News

COVID-19 Costs Push Chubb to $331M Loss in Q2

The coronavirus pandemic has forced global insurer Chubb’s net income to plunge, and in the second quarter, fall to a sizable loss. Chubb lost $331 million compared to net income of more than $1.1 billion during the same quarter in …

Workers Compensation Rates Could Start Rising in 2021, Says W.R. Berkley CEO

For W.R. Berkley Corp. and most other workers’ compensation carriers, rates have declined for some time. That trend could start reversing itself starting in 2021, CEO W. Robert Berkley Jr. predicted recently. “I would not be surprised as we make …

Coronavirus, Civil Riot, Investment Losses Take Bite Out of W.R. Berkley Q2 Profit

Larger investment losses and COVID-19 took a substantial bite out of W.R. Berkley’s 2019 second-quarter net income, but the specialty insurer and reinsurer still stayed in the black overall. Net income for the quarter reached $72.3 million The same period …

Coronavirus Claims of Estimated €80B Are ‘Manageable’ for Europe’s Insurers: Moody’s

The coronavirus outbreak has had an adverse, but manageable, impact on the European insurance sector, leading to a drop in company earnings rather than capital erosion, says Moody’s Investors Service in a report. Central bank intervention has reversed much of …

W.R. Berkley Estimates $85 Million in Q2 COVID Catastrophe Losses

W.R. Berkley Corp. cautioned that its 2020 second quarter pretax catastrophe losses will reach $145 million, with more than half of that coming from COVID-19 related costs. Out of that total, $85 million stems from COVID-19 claims, the specialty insurer …

Chubb Estimates $1.4 Billion in Q2 Global Losses Tied to Coronavirus

Chubb’s disclosure of second quarter 2020 global net catastrophe losses underscores the damage COVID-19 is doing to some carriers’ bottom lines. The global property/casualty insurer estimated $1.8 billion in pretax catastrophe losses for Q2, or $1.5 billion after tax. Of …

Some Question Insurers’ Estimates of Coronavirus Business Interruption Claims

U.S. property and casualty insurers have cast the coronavirus pandemic as an unprecedented event whose massive cost to small businesses they are neither able nor required to cover. The industry has warned it could cost them $255 billion to $431 …

S&P Pegs Coronavirus Losses at $15-$30B. Chief Risk Officers Think That’s Low.

Analysts for Standard & Poor’s Global Ratings shared a view that U.S. underwriting losses from COVID-19 would fall in the $15-$30 billion range. However, risk officers speaking at a rating agency conference last week said the estimate is light. S&P …

Trade Credit Insurers Seek $60B from U.S. Towards Pandemic Payouts

U.S. trade credit insurers have approached the U.S. Treasury Department and Federal Reserve seeking financial backing for claims payments to support business supply chains hit by the novel coronavirus pandemic, three people familiar with the matter said. Trade credit insurance, …

Diverging Views: Is COVID a One-Off Catastrophe or Not?

While reinsurers are “open for business” and insurers and reinsurers are reporting the impacts of COVID-19 as a one-off catastrophe impacting earnings rather than capital, equity markets are viewing the situation differently, a financial analyst reported earlier this month. Speaking …