Natural catastrophes hit the insurance sector
The world's largest reinsurance company, Swiss, Re, says the insurance branch will probably have to pay much more for natural catastrophes this year than in 2007.
The company said at a meeting in Monte Carlo on Monday that insured losses for the first eight months of the year were 20 per cent up on the same period last year.
It added that the 2008 figures confirmed a long-term trend towards higher natural catastrophe claims.
Hurricane Gustav, which hit the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean at the end of last month and the beginning of September, is expected to have caused estimated insurance losses of between $4 and 8 billion (SFr4.5 and 9 billion).
A Swiss Re statement also said the insurance and reinsurance industry was facing a more challenging business environment, characterised by continued soft markets, stock market turbulence and an “active” hurricane season.
High inflation in many countries posed an additional risk to the insurance industry’s capital base and aggravated the problem of underinsurance.
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