NU Online News Service, March 10, 11:39 a.m. EST

Swiss Re estimated that total insurance industry losses from the Feb. 27 Chile earthquake could reach $7 billion and said its own loss from the event could possibly hit $500 million.

Meanwhile, Munich Re offered a matching estimate for the industry quake loss and estimated its own quake loss at EUR400 million ($545 million). The two companies' combined winter storm Xynthia loss estimates totaled $236 million.

The Swiss Re and Munich Re estimates putting the industry loss between $4 billion and $7 billion are lower than that of PartnerRe Ltd., which said yesterday the number could go as high as $10 billion and its own losses might be between $220 million and $320 million.

Swiss Re in addition said it expects its loss for the winter storm Xynthia that hit Western Europe on February 26-28 to be around $100 million (EUR73 million). Munich Re said it expected its storm loss to be EUR100 million ($136 million).

The storm caused industry losses in the range of $2-to-$4 billion, according to Bermuda-based PartnerRe, which said its own claims relating to Xynthia will be $40-to-$70 million.

Meanwhile, Moody's Investors Service put out a report saying Xynthia's impact would be significant for French insurers and much less so for reinsurers.

The firm noted modeling estimates put the storm damage in France at EUR1 billion ($1.36 billion) to EUR500 million ($680 million) while the French association of insurance companies has indicated that the total insured cost of Xynthia may be higher than EUR1.2 billion ($1.63 billion). Risk Management Solutions modeling firm in Newark, Calif. estimated the industry loss between EUR1billion ($1.36 billion) and EUR2 billion($2.7 billion).

Moody's noted these were early figures that could be revised upward. The firm said France's damage was high because winds and high tides caused "devastating floods" on the French Atlantic coast, with potentially high costs due to serious property damage and sizable business interruption claims. It noted wind-induced claims and floods-induced claims are covered under property policies in France.

However, Moody's noted that primary insurers will benefit from the protective reinsurance scheme provided by the French State-owned Caisse Centrale de R?assurance (CCR). This reinsurance mechanism coupled with coverage against climatic events purchased with traditional reinsurers will limit the net cost for the insurance industry, said Moody's.

For reinsurers, Moody's said the storm impact should be "limited" given that 50 percent of the claims related to floods will be picked up by CCR.

And the company said the wind-induced claims combined with the flood-induced claims not borne by CCR may not significantly exceed primary insurers' retention.

But the company cautioned that reinsurers will now be more exposed to future climatic events in France, especially storms, as the costs of such additional events may now be more largely borne by the traditional reinsurance industry.

Special Reports /

Swiss Re, Munich Re Chile, Xynthia Losses Near $1.3B

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