1/9/2019 4:53:00 AM

Source: Business Insurance

Italian companies lose around $900 million per year to cyber attacks and data theft, Fresh Plaza reported. The problem has been affecting the fruit and vegetable sector as well.

Matthew Lerner 1/8/2019 9:45:00 AM

Source: Business Insurance

 Insured losses from natural catastrophes totaled $80 billion in 2018, well above the inflation-adjusted average for the last 30 years of $41 billion but just over half of the record $140 billion shouldered by the industry in 2017, according to a report released Tuesday by Munich Reinsurance Co. Overall economic losses totaled $160 billion, again above the inflation-adjusted average for the last 30 years which was $140 billion but under half the $350 billion in total losses seen in 2017, the reinsurer said. The most costly events were the Camp Fire in Northern California, which caused insured losses of $12.5 billion, and Hurricane Michael with insured losses of $10 billion, the report said. California “saw the most damaging wildfires in U.S. history,” Munich Re said, including the November Camp Fire, which “more or less completely destroyed the small town of Paradise,” and the Woolsey Fire, which caused approximately $4 billion in insured losses near Los Angeles. In total, wildfires in California caused $18 billion in insured losses.“Our data shows that the losses from wildfires in California have risen dramatically in recent years,” Ernst Rauch, Munich-based head of climate and geosciences at Munich Re, said in a statement released with the report. Hurricanes in the U.S. cause one-fifth of overall losses worldwide, Munich Re said, adding that worldwide cyclones caused above-average overall losses of $56 billion in 2018, about half of which are insured. The typhoon season saw a total of seven storms hit or skirt the islands of Japan in 2018. Five of the storms made landfall or came very close to land with typhoon strength and brought with them torrential rainfall, Munich Re said. The most severe storm was Typhoon Jebi with insured losses of around $9 billion, making it one of the costliest typhoons in Japan’s history, Munich Re said. “2018 saw several major natural catastrophes with high insured losses,” Torsten Jeworrek, member of Munich Re’s board of management, said in the statement. “These included the unusual phenomenon of severe tropical cyclones occurring both in the U.S. and Japan while autumn wildfires devastated parts of California.”

1/7/2019 9:10:00 AM

Source: Business Insurnace

A Portland, Oregon, man who was locked in a Burger King bathroom for more than an hour in mid-December 2018 now wants Whoppers for life, according to a report on local news station WIBV-4’s website Friday. Curtis Brooner, 50, who filed his lawsuit this month, went to the Burger King on Dec. 15 and went to the bathroom after he finished his favorite meal. When he tried to leave, the door would not open, the station reported. He alleges in his suit that he had also cut his hand using a fly swatter an employee slid under the door to help pry open the lock, unsuccessfully, and that he could hear employees laughing at the situation, according to the news station. A locksmith was later called and “Burger King provided Mr. Brooner a Band-Aid and ointment for the cut on his hand, and offered to settle in exchange for a lifetime supply of Burger King meals at no cost,” according to the suit, accessed by the news station. Yet “Burger King reneged and told Mr. Brooner that it no longer intended to honor the agreement,” the lawsuit states. Now he wants Burger King to either honor the agreement or pay him $9,026.16, a figure that amounts to one Whopper meal a week until his life expectancy of 72 years old, the station reported.

Matthew Lerner 1/7/2019 10:49:00 AM

Source: Business Insurance

Citing ample capacity in existing markets, Pool Re said it would cease writing terrorism contingency cover previously offered to its members, beginning after the first quarter. In a statement Monday, Pool Re said “as a result of sufficient capacity now existing within the commercial insurance and reinsurance markets to cover contingency losses arising from acts of terrorism,” Pool Re “will cease to reinsure Members for the contingency cover they provide to their insureds.” The state-backed terrorism reinsurer began writing such cover shortly after London was awarded the 2012 Olympic Games because the commercial market said it did not have the capacity, the statement said, adding that most of the risks previously ceded to Pool Re involved sporting events, concerts and tours. Commercial contingency markets now wish to retain such risks and not reinsure them to Pool Re, the statement said.

1/8/2019 4:44:00 AM

Source: Business Insurance

U.K.-based cyber insurance comparison platform Cyber|Decider has said that the lack of standard terminology in cyber insurance policies is causing confusion for brokers and customers and is ultimately stifling market growth, UK Tech News reports. Cyber|Decider said that there is a lot of confusion about the policies available and the terms of cover because insurers fail to use standard wording.

1/8/2019 4:46:00 AM

Source Business Insurance

A survey by U.S.-based professional services provider Ernst & Young L.L.P. found that insurers, banks and money managers are planning to move around £800 billion ($1 trillion) of assets from the United Kingdom to the rest of Europe amid Brexit uncertainty, Bloomberg reported. Ernst & Young’s estimate is based on statements from 20 companies that have announced a transfer of assets out of London. Additionally, the professional services firm expects more than 7,000 jobs to relocate from London.

Thomson Reuters 12/4/2018 9:04:00 AM

Source: Business Insurance

(Reuters) — About 100 million users of Quora were affected by unauthorized access to one of its systems by a “malicious third party,” the knowledge-sharing website said Monday.Account information, including name, email address, encrypted password and data imported from linked networks when authorized by users may have been compromised, it said.The company said it is logging out all Quora users who may have been affected to prevent further damage.“We are in the process of notifying users whose data has been compromised,” Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo said in a blog post.The breach, discovered Friday, did not affect question and answers that are written anonymously, the company said, adding that it has also notified law enforcement officials.“We have retained a leading digital forensics and security firm to assist us,” it said.The Quora Inc.-owned website was founded in 2009 by Mr. D’Angelo and Charlie Cheever, two former Facebook employees.

Gloria Gonzalez 12/7/2018 1:26:00 PM

Source: Business Insurance

Most property/casualty policyholders are expected to experience flat to 5% rate increases in 2019, with pricing challenges likely to persist in specific coverage lines such as property-exposed accounts in wind-prone areas, habitational risks and large commercial trucking fleets, according to a report by USI Insurance Services LLC.The property/casualty industry is well capitalized and surplus now stands in excess of $760 billion, according to USI’s 2019 P&C Insurance Market Outlook Report released on Friday. The industry’s combined ratio as of mid-2018 is 98%, according to various rating agencies, but this will likely approach 100% by year’s end, the report predicted.“P&C market surplus will likely continue to grow, fueled by a booming economy, resultant growth in net written premiums and ever-expanding levels of alternative capital,” the report stated. “In the face of competition from other carriers looking to deploy their surplus capital, incumbent markets are often reluctant to walk away from what they perceive to be below-market pricing and will rather look to strike a compromise with clients and brokers to retain business.”Policyholders in windstorm, flood and fire-prone areas are likely to experience upwards rate pressure while those in more hazardous industries or with deteriorating loss profiles may be forced to consider retaining more risk to maintain rate, according to the report.

12/6/2018 5:30:00 AM

Source: Business Insurance

U.K.’s airline regulator has begun enforcement action against Ireland-based Ryanair Holdings P.L.C. for refusing to compensate passengers for strike-related disruptions, Sky News reported citing sources. The Civil Aviation Authority said that the strikes were not “extraordinary circumstances” and therefore not exempt from European Union compensation rules. A series of walkouts by pilots and crew in Spain, Belgium, Holland, Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Sweden, France and Germany forced Ryanair to cancel several hundreds of flights on strike-hit days this year.

12/6/2018 5:29:00 AM

Source: Business Insurance

Swiss consultancy firm Secquaero Advisors Ltd. said that the insurance-linked securities sector is likely to face challenges following large catastrophe losses in 2017 and this year along with low returns, Artemis.bm reports. Dirk Lohmann, chairman of Secquaero Advisors, said that several ILS players may not offer new capacity at the upcoming January 2019 renewals. Mr. Lohmann said that aggregate reinsurance capacity is unlikely to grow in the near term unless reinsurance rates increase during the renewals.