Latest news with #NOAA-named
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
AM Best Comments on Decommissioning of NOAA's Billion-Dollar Climate Disaster Database
OLDWICK, N.J., May 20, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AM Best has commented that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) removal of the billion-dollar weather disaster database could impede insurance companies' ability to track losses due to secondary perils. The NOAA disasters database, which was created in 1980 to track catastrophes that caused at least $1 billion in economic damage, will be archived but no longer updated beyond 2024. This decommissioning comes following a year when there were 27 one-billion-dollar weather events, and 28 in 2023 (despite there being no NOAA-named hurricane), compared with an average of 15 events in 2010-2022. (See the related Best's Special Report, "US Weather Event Risks Highlight Need for Stress Testing.") Insured catastrophe losses in 2024 were significant, with two major hurricanes, Helene and Milton, responsible for a large portion of the losses, and severe convective storms also contributing materially. The January wildfires in California continue to challenge reinsurance and insurance markets due to starkly increasing risk profiles, regulations and concentration risk. Overall, secondary perils, which continue to increase in frequency and severity and are illustrated by the recent tornado outbreak in the Central United States, have become a major cause of loss in the past five years for U.S. property/casualty insurers with property catastrophe exposed lines of business, due predominantly to weather patterns, effects of inflation and exposure growth from population migration. Sridhar Manyem, senior director, Industry Research and Analytics, AM Best, said: "Having a common and agreed-upon data source would help insurers trend these losses in their modeling and use the data for pricing, reinsurance and risk management, as well as help assess the gap between insured losses and economic losses and see how insurance can work to minimize the gap. "Additionally, if more of these data sources were to disappear, parametric triggers within catastrophe bonds, which depend on measurements by the NOAA, may need to be redesigned. While some other countries have governmental agencies that track similar data, private companies may have to step in to fill the void and it could take some years to build credibility and trust among market participants." AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit Copyright © 2025 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. View source version on Contacts Christopher Sharkey Associate Director, Public Relations +1 908 882 2310 Al Slavin Senior Public Relations Specialist +1 908 882 2318 Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
AM Best Comments on Decommissioning of NOAA's Billion-Dollar Climate Disaster Database
OLDWICK, N.J., May 20, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AM Best has commented that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) removal of the billion-dollar weather disaster database could impede insurance companies' ability to track losses due to secondary perils. The NOAA disasters database, which was created in 1980 to track catastrophes that caused at least $1 billion in economic damage, will be archived but no longer updated beyond 2024. This decommissioning comes following a year when there were 27 one-billion-dollar weather events, and 28 in 2023 (despite there being no NOAA-named hurricane), compared with an average of 15 events in 2010-2022. (See the related Best's Special Report, "US Weather Event Risks Highlight Need for Stress Testing.") Insured catastrophe losses in 2024 were significant, with two major hurricanes, Helene and Milton, responsible for a large portion of the losses, and severe convective storms also contributing materially. The January wildfires in California continue to challenge reinsurance and insurance markets due to starkly increasing risk profiles, regulations and concentration risk. Overall, secondary perils, which continue to increase in frequency and severity and are illustrated by the recent tornado outbreak in the Central United States, have become a major cause of loss in the past five years for U.S. property/casualty insurers with property catastrophe exposed lines of business, due predominantly to weather patterns, effects of inflation and exposure growth from population migration. Sridhar Manyem, senior director, Industry Research and Analytics, AM Best, said: "Having a common and agreed-upon data source would help insurers trend these losses in their modeling and use the data for pricing, reinsurance and risk management, as well as help assess the gap between insured losses and economic losses and see how insurance can work to minimize the gap. "Additionally, if more of these data sources were to disappear, parametric triggers within catastrophe bonds, which depend on measurements by the NOAA, may need to be redesigned. While some other countries have governmental agencies that track similar data, private companies may have to step in to fill the void and it could take some years to build credibility and trust among market participants." AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit Copyright © 2025 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. View source version on Contacts Christopher Sharkey Associate Director, Public Relations +1 908 882 2310 Al Slavin Senior Public Relations Specialist +1 908 882 2318
Business Wire
20-05-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
AM Best Comments on Decommissioning of NOAA's Billion-Dollar Climate Disaster Database
OLDWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- AM Best has commented that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) removal of the billion-dollar weather disaster database could impede insurance companies' ability to track losses due to secondary perils. The NOAA disasters database, which was created in 1980 to track catastrophes that caused at least $1 billion in economic damage, will be archived but no longer updated beyond 2024. This decommissioning comes following a year when there were 27 one-billion-dollar weather events, and 28 in 2023 (despite there being no NOAA-named hurricane), compared with an average of 15 events in 2010-2022. (See the related Best's Special Report, ' US Weather Event Risks Highlight Need for Stress Testing.') Insured catastrophe losses in 2024 were significant, with two major hurricanes, Helene and Milton, responsible for a large portion of the losses, and severe convective storms also contributing materially. The January wildfires in California continue to challenge reinsurance and insurance markets due to starkly increasing risk profiles, regulations and concentration risk. Overall, secondary perils, which continue to increase in frequency and severity and are illustrated by the recent tornado outbreak in the Central United States, have become a major cause of loss in the past five years for U.S. property/casualty insurers with property catastrophe exposed lines of business, due predominantly to weather patterns, effects of inflation and exposure growth from population migration. Sridhar Manyem, senior director, Industry Research and Analytics, AM Best, said: 'Having a common and agreed-upon data source would help insurers trend these losses in their modeling and use the data for pricing, reinsurance and risk management, as well as help assess the gap between insured losses and economic losses and see how insurance can work to minimize the gap. 'Additionally, if more of these data sources were to disappear, parametric triggers within catastrophe bonds, which depend on measurements by the NOAA, may need to be redesigned. While some other countries have governmental agencies that track similar data, private companies may have to step in to fill the void and it could take some years to build credibility and trust among market participants.' AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit
Business Wire
24-04-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Best's Special Report: Secondary Perils Continue to Spike Insurer Loss Ratios, Even in Less Catastrophe-Prone States
BUSINESS WIRE)-- AM Best data shows that nearly half of all U.S. states saw its highest single-year property catastrophe loss ratio in the last 10 years exceed its 10-year median loss ratio by more than 20 percentage points. While many of these states are prone to catastrophe losses, according to a new AM Best report, the rising frequency of secondary perils in states considered to be less-catastrophe prone have led insurers to ramp up reassessments of their pricing models, underwriting strategies and risk management approaches. The rising frequency of secondary perils in states considered to be less-catastrophe prone have led insurers to ramp up reassessments of their pricing models, underwriting strategies and risk management approaches. Share Secondary perils have become a major cause of loss in the past five years for U.S. property/casualty insurers with property catastrophe-exposed lines of business, highlighted by the January wildfires in California. In its Best's Special Report, 'US Weather Event Risks Highlight Need for Stress Testing,' AM Best states that insurers will need to stress test for these threats regularly as risk profiles evolve. Stress tests are conducted and factored in AM Best's credit rating process, as part of the balance sheet and enterprise risk management assessments. 'Stress testing should consider risk appetite and tolerance, as well as net exposure, the impact from multiple events, liquidity and reinsurance structure and dependence,' said Jason Hopper, associate director, Industry Research and Analytics. 'Understanding true exposures and considering all plausible scenarios is important. With the availability of aggregate reinsurance protection limited, some carriers have been severely impacted by the aggregation effects of multiple, smaller events.' The report notes that there were 27 one-billion-dollar weather events in 2024, and 28 in 2023 (despite there being no NOAA-named hurricane), compared with an average of 15 events in 2010-2022. While national insurers have accounted for an overwhelming majority of direct losses paid, single-state and regional companies tend to have a greater share of claims compared with their premiums in some states, with Kentucky being the highest in 2023 at nearly 25% of direct losses paid in the state while having 18% in market share based on direct premiums. The greater share of claims than premiums indicates higher concentration risk for these carriers. 'Market disruptions continue as some of the national carriers curb their risk appetites, creating opportunities for single-state and regional writers,' said Jacob Conner, associate analyst, AM Best. 'However, the operating loss-drag on capital and surplus over the last 10 years has been worse for single-state and regional writers in catastrophe-prone states, and so stress testing helps companies determine the strength of the balance sheet and ability to absorb shocks.' To access the full copy of this special report, please visit
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Best's Special Report: Secondary Perils Continue to Spike Insurer Loss Ratios, Even in Less Catastrophe-Prone States
OLDWICK, N.J., April 24, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AM Best data shows that nearly half of all U.S. states saw its highest single-year property catastrophe loss ratio in the last 10 years exceed its 10-year median loss ratio by more than 20 percentage points. While many of these states are prone to catastrophe losses, according to a new AM Best report, the rising frequency of secondary perils in states considered to be less-catastrophe prone have led insurers to ramp up reassessments of their pricing models, underwriting strategies and risk management approaches. Secondary perils have become a major cause of loss in the past five years for U.S. property/casualty insurers with property catastrophe-exposed lines of business, highlighted by the January wildfires in California. In its Best's Special Report, "US Weather Event Risks Highlight Need for Stress Testing," AM Best states that insurers will need to stress test for these threats regularly as risk profiles evolve. Stress tests are conducted and factored in AM Best's credit rating process, as part of the balance sheet and enterprise risk management assessments. "Stress testing should consider risk appetite and tolerance, as well as net exposure, the impact from multiple events, liquidity and reinsurance structure and dependence," said Jason Hopper, associate director, Industry Research and Analytics. "Understanding true exposures and considering all plausible scenarios is important. With the availability of aggregate reinsurance protection limited, some carriers have been severely impacted by the aggregation effects of multiple, smaller events." The report notes that there were 27 one-billion-dollar weather events in 2024, and 28 in 2023 (despite there being no NOAA-named hurricane), compared with an average of 15 events in 2010-2022. While national insurers have accounted for an overwhelming majority of direct losses paid, single-state and regional companies tend to have a greater share of claims compared with their premiums in some states, with Kentucky being the highest in 2023 at nearly 25% of direct losses paid in the state while having 18% in market share based on direct premiums. The greater share of claims than premiums indicates higher concentration risk for these carriers. "Market disruptions continue as some of the national carriers curb their risk appetites, creating opportunities for single-state and regional writers," said Jacob Conner, associate analyst, AM Best. "However, the operating loss-drag on capital and surplus over the last 10 years has been worse for single-state and regional writers in catastrophe-prone states, and so stress testing helps companies determine the strength of the balance sheet and ability to absorb shocks." To access the full copy of this special report, please visit AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit Copyright © 2025 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. View source version on Contacts Jason Hopper Associate Director, Industry Research and Analytics +1 908 882 1896 Jacob Conner Associate Analyst +1 908 882 2465 Christopher Sharkey Associate Director, Public Relations +1 908 882 2310 Al Slavin Senior Public Relations Specialist +1 908 882 2318 Sign in to access your portfolio
