24 July 2018Insurance

Hurricane Irma claims exceed $1.1bn

More than $1.1 billion in claims has been paid by July 12, 2018 to policyholders because of damage caused by hurricane Irma, according to latest data from the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Overall 33,111 claims for hurricane Irma damage have been filed with the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). The average closed claim payment was $49,740.

Hurricane Irma devastated Caribbean islands in September 2018 before hitting southwest Florida on September 10, leaving a trail of tornadoes and storm-surge flooding.

As long as their community participates in NFIP, Floridians are eligible to purchase an NFIP policy.

The national average annual policy for home and business owners is about $700 for up to $250,000 in coverage.

FEMA is expected to benefit from the launch of a cat bond to transfer risk from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) to the capital markets through Flood Smart Re, a Bermuda-domiciled insurance vehicle.

FEMA first  purchased reinsurance in 2017 and recovered $1.04 billion from the private markets due to losses from Hurricane Harvey. In early January 2018, FEMA purchased protection against future floods by securing $1.46 billion in reinsurance from 28 reinsurance companies to cover any qualifying NFIP flood losses in excess of $4 billion per event occurring in calendar year 2018.

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26 July 2018   The natural catastrophe losses of 2017 revealed some “surprising” disparities in reinsurers' exposures and their estimated return periods, according to a new report by S&P called ‘Are Global Reinsurers Ready For Another Year Of Active Natural Catastrophes?’
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26 July 2018   The US Congress has enacted a short-term extension to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) through November, preventing the programme to lapse during peak hurricane season.
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1 August 2018   The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has secured $500 million in reinsurance for its National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) through capital markets.