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

PartnerRe Ltd. is the latest insurer to issue an estimaterelated to the flooding in Thailand, with an expected $120 million2011 fourth-quarter charge.

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

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

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

In December, PartnerRe said its Thailand flood losses would bebetween 0.5 percent and 1 percent of total industry losses from theevent. That prediction remains consistent, based on a totalindustry loss estimate of more than $15 billion, according toPartner Re.

It is interesting to observe insurers' assessments of totalindustry losses from the event. The total loss estimate used byPartnerRe eclipses those used by other companies in calculatingindividual losses.

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

Aon Benfield says industry losses could exceed $10 billion. Archsays its initial guess at losses is based on a total hit to theinsurance 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 Validusrecently released loss estimates related to the floods in Thailand—which beganlast summer but peaked during the 2011 fourth quarter.