Tuesday, November 14, 2017

"California wildfire insured loss expected to hit $8bn: Aon"

Always looking for a chance to channel an '80's Valley Girl:
Well duh!
Commenting on last month's estimates of the fires' costs:
Oct 18
It's going to be much more than that.
6000+ structures at even $100k average per gets you to $6 bil....
From Artemis, Nov. 10:
Insurance and reinsurance industry losses from the recent California wildfire outbreaks are expected to hit $8 billion, making the event the costliest insured wildfire loss on record, according to Aon Benfield unit Impact Forecasting.

With insurers estimates of losses now coming in and at the high-end of expectations in some cases, it is clear that the recent wildfires in the California wine region and other areas of the state are going to aggregate into the largest impact this peril has had on insurance and reinsurance markets.

Already Travelers has reported a loss of up to $675 million after reinsurance, AIG up to $500 million, AXIS Capital said from $35 million to $45 million, Beazley said it was adding to its recent cat losses, while reinsurer RenaissanceRe warned that the California wildfire impact could be material.
The California Insurance Commissioner recently said that claims filed had already exceeded $3.3 billion, while risk modeller loss estimates were topped by RMS which said it could be as much as $8 billion on an economic basis, with the majority insured.

It looks like the higher estimates are proving to be correct, as Aon Benfield’s Impact Forecasting unit now joins those calling for an eventual industry impact of around $8 billion.

In recent days other estimates from industry sources have suggested the insurance and reinsurance sector loss would be between $7 billion up to $10 billion, so the sector appears to be coming to similar conclusions on how big an event this is likely to be....MORE
By the 25th of October the headline was "California wildfire costs rising with 8,400+ structures destroyed" putting that $100K average cost right in  the ballpark.