Cat losses prove uncertain nature of industry
The recent string of hurricanes and other events that have hit the re/insurance industry in the third quarter of 2017 have also provided it with the opportunity to step up and play its part, according to Brian Ingle, head of analytics at Willis Towers Watson (WTW).
Ingle told PCI Today that he expected the recent storms and subsequent losses to dominate discussions at the conference.
“The main conversation points will be the storms and other events: Harvey, Irma and Maria and their impact, and the California wildfires. From the standpoint of a reinsurance broker those are the main topics we will be talking about, and thinking about in terms of their implications for the upcoming renewal seasons,” he said.
Ingle said that for WTW’s clients, as for most of the industry, the hurricanes reaffirm the fact that insurance is a business that plays a critical role in absorbing the uncertainty of society and the world around it. For this reason, Ingle believes, it’s going to be a very interesting PCI.
“The industry must illustrate how it fulfils its obligations to affected policyholders and helps them and their communities recover from these calamities,” he said.
Another interesting point of discussion will be the fact that many of the recent catastrophes have been unusual in their characteristics and presented challenges for the risk modelling companies.
“Looking at the California wildfires, the impacted communities would not have been the focal point of risk based upon sophisticated vendor models or risk ranking services,” Ingle said.
“The events of this Fall have characteristics that are outliers even in the context of our modelling knowledge—50 inches of rainfall in Houston, a lengthy category 5 hurricane. These are outliers, even among the outlier sets.
“It highlights for us the fact that we’re in an uncertain world and that for reinsurers and reinsurance brokers it’s our time to step up and play the role we are paid to do.”
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