Irene: No Large Commercial Losses, but Justification for Recent NE Rate Increases

NU Online News Service, Aug. 30, 12:00 p.m. EST

Hurricane Irene should not cause significant losses for commercial insurers, but it shows that the Northeast is susceptible to tropical cyclones, justifying recent rate increases in the region, says Duncan Ellis, U.S. Property Practice Leader for insurance broker Marsh.

In an interview with NU Online News Service, Ellis says Hurricane Irene will probably prove to be primarily a homeowners' event, but on the commercial side, affected businesses will most likely be close to residential areas such as hospitals and medical facilities, big box stores, and shopping malls.

Irene will not be enough to create a hard market turn because capacity remains available, but the pricing impact will most likely come to property and business interruption insurance coverage.

“This is a market that we already see in transition,” says Ellis. “There is ample capacity, but what will we pay for it?”

For the Northeast region, he says it also proves some modelers' assertions that the area is susceptible to hurricane and tropical storm activity, justifying underwriting increases for those types events for commercial accounts.

“This is not a big enough loss to change the market, but the definition of catastrophe just got a little broader,” notes Ellis.

For wind exposures, risk managers can now expect to see higher rates on the risks they pay for, he says.

To ensure that a commercial business can get back in operation as soon as possible, risk managers should make sure they have obtained All Risk Property Damage and Business Interruption coverage for their property, according to Marsh.

In addition to providing property damage coverage, the policy should include:

• Preservation of property, also known as sue and labor coverage, which covers expenses to preserve a property in harm's way.

• Actions by civil authority that shut down the business during the storm emergency.

• Miscellaneous unnamed location, which covers interruption to a business that was not previously known and was found to be in the path of a storm.

• Temporary removal from property personnel.

• Debris removal.

• Professional fees, covering the cost of hiring experts such as forensic accounts to determine the cost of a loss.