NU Online News Service, Jan. 18, 12:00 p.m. EDT

PartnerRe Ltd. is the latest insurer to issue an estimate related to the flooding in Thailand, with an expected $120 million 2011 fourth-quarter charge.

Coupled with an increase in the losses PartnerRe took related to the Tohoku earthquake in Japan, the company says it will record a fourth quarter after-tax operating loss of between $130 million and $150 million.

The Thailand loss estimate is pre-tax, and net of retrocession and reinstatement premiums, PartnerRe says in a statement. The company says losses from Thailand will primarily impact its global P&C, global specialty and catastrophe segments.

The company is scheduled to release 2011 fourth-quarter results on Feb. 6.

In December, PartnerRe said its Thailand flood losses would be between 0.5 percent and 1 percent of total industry losses from the event. That prediction remains consistent, based on a total industry loss estimate of more than $15 billion, according to Partner Re.

It is interesting to observe insurers' assessments of total industry losses from the event. The total loss estimate used by PartnerRe eclipses those used by other companies in calculating individual losses.

Swiss Re, in saying they expect $600 million in losses from the flooding, put a price tag of between $8 billion and $11 billion in losses for the industry.

Aon Benfield says industry losses could exceed $10 billion. Arch says its initial guess at losses is based on a total hit to the insurance industry of $10-to-$20 billion from the flooding. Validus' total market loss estimate is $12 billion.

Fellow Bermuda-based insurers XL Group, Arch Capital and Validus recently released loss estimates related to the floods in Thailand—which began last summer but peaked during the 2011 fourth quarter.

Special Reports /

PartnerRe Expects Thailand Flood Losses of $120M; Says Industry Losses $15B

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