Hurricane

Florida insurers are running up high costs of settling claims linked to Hurricane Irma, as loss adjustment expense levels reach roughly 20 percent or more of total claims, sources have told Trading Risk.

The Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund has more than halved its estimate of losses from Hurricane Irma to $2.04bn from $5bn.

The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association will reset its Alamo Re 2017 cat bond to trigger at a lower level after its Hurricane Harvey losses wiped out the association's funds.

Two government-backed insurance schemes on either side of the Atlantic are considering new ILS purchases as they seek to diversify their reinsurance panels.

A 20 percent increase in industry loss estimates for last year's hurricanes and wildfires could see 2017 returns for Markel Catco's London-listed Reinsurance Opportunities Fund drop by a further 8 percent, the retro manager has disclosed.

Several Floridian insurers are looking to lower their reliance on the state-backed reinsurance fund in 2018, bringing a small amount of new demand into the market.

UPC has already placed 100 percent of its programme for the year, months ahead of the 1 June renewal deadline, CEO John Forney said at sister publication The Insurance Insider's Insider US conference in New York.

The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) will reset its Alamo Re 2017 cat bond to trigger at a lower level after its Hurricane Harvey losses wiped out the association's funds.

Federated National recorded a net income of $6.3mn in the fourth quarter, rebounding from an $8.8mn loss in the year-earlier period following Hurricane Matthew

Federated National Holding Company subsidiaries Federated National and Monarch National have purchased protection from the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund (FHCF) for the next hurricane season at the same level as last year, according to an SEC filing.

Many of the ILS market folks who gathered in Miami this week for the Sifma IRLS conference would have been hoping for brighter skies than awaited them at home, as storms converged on both sides of the Atlantic.

Florida insurer Heritage said that underwriters have already offered the carrier quotes for flat pricing on hundreds of millions of dollars of limit on its 2018 property cat placement.