NU Online News Service

PartnerRe Ltd. said it expects insurance industry losses fromthe Chile earthquake could hit $10 billion and its own expectedclaims could exceed $300 million.

Its estimate for the impact on the industry is $2 billion higherthan the largest catastrophe modeling firm estimate of $8 billion.PartnerRe also released an industry loss estimate for EuropeanWindstorm Xynthia of up to $4 billion.

The Bermuda-based company said it expects between $220 millionand $320 million in pre-tax claims from the Chile quake and totalinsured industry losses from the magnitude 8.8 event will be in therange of around $6 billion to $10 billion.

The company said its loss estimate is net of reinstatementpremium and retrocession and is based on a top down analysis aswell as on model output, the assessment of individual treaties andclient data, and is consistent with the company's market positionin the region.

It said its claims relating to the earthquake are expected to becontained primarily within the Global Property & Casualty,Catastrophe and Paris Re subsegments.

PartnerRe noted that its estimate is preliminary, as there islimited actual loss data. As additional information is received,particularly relating to potential structural damage in the capitalof Santiago, the company said it will update its estimate.

European Windstorm Xynthia, which struck Europe over the weekendof February 27-28, PartnerRe said is estimated to have causedindustry losses in the range of $2 billion to $4 billion.

The storm swept across several European countries includingPortugal, Spain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg andGermany. The company said it expects its claims relating toWindstorm Xynthia will be $40-to-$70 million pre-tax and areexpected to be contained primarily within the Catastrophe and ParisRe subsegments. This estimate is net of reinstatement premium andretrocession.