Catastrophe & Restoration

The pretax cost was about $390 million, led by events in North America, and compares with a previous internal projection of $280 million.

About 60 million people worldwide face a lack of food because of the El Nio phenomenon that has scorched harvests in some areas and caused floods in others.

The observed deterioration may be more a result of weather events in the quarter than a sign of where the industry is heading.

Canadian insurers may be looking at claims of about US$2.8B from the recent Alberta wildfires.

After several seasons free of major catastrophes, here a gut-check on whether property and casualty insurers expect a pendulum swing and how they would respond.

Following several years of quiet hurricane seasons, a new report by CoreLogic, a property information and analytics company based in Irvine, Calif., says that as many as 6.8 million homes along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts could be at risk for hurricane storm surges.

Colorado State University edged up its seasonal Atlantic hurricane forecast to 15, three more than in an average year.

Unambiguous language in a 'change in condition' endorsement means that the property owner had no coverage for water damage from frozen pipes as soon as a building became vacant.