Catastrophe & Restoration

How can smaller insurance companies compete against slick ad campaigns? Through superior service and word of mouth, says Jeff Snyder, an agent with Farmers Mutual Insurance Company.

Last year was a costly one in terms of dollars and human life as insurers saw catastrophe losses increase by 59 percent from the previous year, according to a Swiss Re report.

Standard and Poor’s has revised its outlook on nine Japanese insurers due to the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, while Moody’s says current loss estimates by two reinsurers are credit negative for that sector.

Despite its devastation, Japan’s earthquake will not have a global impact on insurance rates, but the cumulative effect of a series of catastrophes and changes in modeling will likely produce rate increases in some sectors, according to a report from Towers Watson.

Commercial property and casualty insurers could take the biggest hit both in losses and credit worthiness from the earthquake in Japan, according to a Moody’s report.

The Tohoku earthquake in Japan was a seismological “black swan”—an event beyond the realm of regular expectations, according to catastrophe-risk modelers.