Loss Control

Tropical Storm Aletta has formed in the early-morning hours of the Pacific storm seasons opening day.

Leading U.S. homeowners insurers recorded combined ratios well over 100 in 2011 due mainly to storms throughout the year, according to an SNL Insurance analysis.

The catastrophes of 2011 were notable for their frequency and severity, and insureds should take away lessons from the year regarding what to look for in insurance policies to maximize coverage for future events, insurance broker Marsh says.

The Heartland Institute and its insurance-centric Washington unit are negotiating a divorce, a process said to be accelerated by distress over the institutes now-suspended ad campaign linking support for global warming with serial killers.

Prompted by a lobbying group that supports efforts to reduce global warming, three insurance companies and the Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers have publicly renounced their support for the Heartland Institute, a libertarian research group.

Swiss Re says it has secured $400 million in natural-catastrophe coverage through a catastrophe bond issued by Mythen Ltd.