Insurers Rethink Risks as Tornadoes, Storms Increase

[xchrom]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-14/insurer-confidence-rattled-by-storms-beyond-tornado-alley-corelogic-says.html

Insurers are being forced to re- think their models after tornadoes killed more than 550 people in the U.S. this year, data provider CoreLogic Inc. (CLGX) said.

More than 1,550 confirmed tornadoes had been reported in the U.S. as of Dec. 1, making it the third-most-active season since 1980, according to a report today from Santa Ana, California-based CoreLogic. The death toll from the storms was about the same as the number of fatalities from U.S. tornadoes in the prior 10 years combined, the report showed.

“In the past, companies were confident they had an accurate underwriting knowledge of the areas, such as ‘tornado alley,’ that resulted in the greatest claims,” CoreLogic said in the report. “During the past few years, however, property, casualty and commercial insurers have begun to realize they need to carefully re-evaluate this perception.”

Travelers Cos. Chief Executive Officer Jay Fishman said his company is boosting rates after reassessing U.S. storm risk in the wake of tornadoes that struck Tuscaloosa, Alabama; Joplin, Missouri; and Springfield, Massachusetts. A surge of storms in April and May cost the insurer more than Hurricane Katrina and fueled a second-quarter loss. Allstate Corp. (ALL), the largest publicly traded U.S. home and auto insurer, also posted a loss in the period on the tornadoes.

[Uncle Joe]

1. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, xchrom.

[northoftheborder]

2. who'd a thunk it

Maybe it will be the big insurance companies who will force the deniars to accept the inevitability of the coming monstrous weather changes. They (ins. companies) aren't stupid; they may just stop insuring for the new normal in some paces, or start charging humongous premiums.