Thursday, September 14, 2017

Will Reinsurers Sustain a Direct Hit From Hurricane Harvey?

While predictions and analyses abound regarding the potential hit from Hurricane Harvey direct insurers may take, the potential impact to reinsurers has received considerably less attention. In the aftermath of this historic storm, some are beginning to ask, “will Harvey hit reinsurers where it hurts?” The answer is: “it depends.” For some reinsurers, including the reinsurers of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and reinsurers with exposure to auto risks, the storm is all but certain to deal a significant blow. For others, however, Harvey may not pack the same punch. Uninsured flood losses and/or high attachment points may shield many reinsurers from the worst of it. For those reinsurers that are exposed, the way in which ceding carriers aggregate their claims could be crucial to determining the overall reinsurance exposure.