NU Online News Service, Dec. 23, 9:18 a.m. EST
Catlin Group Limited said it has increased its estimated losses from the Sept. 4 New Zealand earthquake (http://www.property-casualty.com/News/2010/9/Pages/Up-To-45B-In-Losses-Predicted-From-New-Zealand-Earthquake-.aspx?k=new+zealand) by $10 million.
The Hamilton-Bermuda specialty insurer now predicts its losses to be approximately $45 million, net of reinsurance and reinstatements.
Catlin Group said the revised estimate is based on information to date from brokers and clients, a review of direct insurance and reinsurance contracts and catastrophe modeling analysis.
"The vast majority of the loss arises from property treaty reinsurance contracts written by the group's London/UK and Bermuda underwriting hubs," Catlin Group said.
The insurer estimated total insured losses from the quake to be $5.5 to $6 billion.
Earlier this month, Partner Re, which raised its expected losses to between $140 and $160 million from an initial estimate of $64 million, said it expects industry losses of between $4.5 and $5.5 billion. (http://www.property-casualty.com/News/2010/12/Pages/PartnerRe-Ups-Loss-Estimate-From-New-Zealand-Earthquake.aspx?k=new+zealand)
The latest estimates in December are higher than initial estimates in September shortly after the quake occurred. Catastrophe modelers Risk Management Solutions and EQECAT had pegged probable losses at between $1.5 and $2.5 billion in September, while AIR Worldwide reported probable losses of between $2 and $4.5 billion. (http://www.property-casualty.com/News/2010/9/Pages/New-Zealand-Quake-Could-Cost-Insurers-Up-To-25M.aspx?k=new+zealand)
In a recent report on 2010 catastrophe losses, Aon Benfield said losses from the quake for this year were $3.05 billion. (http://www.property-casualty.com/News/2010/12/Pages/Worldwide-Insured-Cat-Losses-Nearly-Double-In-2010-.aspx?k=new+zealand)
A separate analysis by Swiss Re said losses from the quake this year were $2.68 billion. (http://www.property-casualty.com/News/2010/11/Pages/Swiss-Re-Insurers-Hit-With-36B-In-Losses-From-2010-Catastrophes-.aspx?k=new+zealand)
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