Hurricane

There was some livecat industry loss warranty (ILW) trading in the run-up to Hurricane Harvey, with activity focused on trades at the $10bn loss level.

The leading insurers of commercial property business in Texas are CNA, Liberty Mutual and AIG, according to data from Moody's and SNL Financial.

Europe's four largest reinsurers will be able to withstand Harvey losses of up to as much as $20bn in their third-quarter cat budgets, UBS analyst Jonny Urwin has said.

If insured losses from Hurricane Harvey remain in the single-digit range, primary insurers are likely to retain the majority of claims, Standard & Poor's said in a report on the disaster.

Hurricane Harvey made landfall last night as a category 4 storm, with an estimated central pressure at landfall that the National Hurricane Center estimated at 938 mb and maximum sustained winds of 130 mph (215 km/h).

Reconstruction costs for Hurricane Harvey could reach $39.6bn, according to figures from CoreLogic.

Inland flooding poses a severe risk from Hurricane Harvey, which is expected to make landfall as a cat 3 hurricane in southern Texas on Friday evening or Saturday morning, according to the latest report from AIR Worldwide.

If Hurricane Harvey remains on its projected track, reinsured damages could be contained relative to similar storms that have hit Texas in the past.

Insured losses from wind damage as a result of Hurricane Harvey are most likely to fall in the low single-digit billions, according to modelling agency RMS.

A couple of cat bonds are now trading below par value, as the ILS market reacts to the advent of hurricane Harvey.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) has emphasised rainfall, storm surge and potential flooding are some of the key risks to watch for as Tropical Storm Harvey heads towards the Texas coastline

The leading homeowner carriers in Texas are dominated by several nationwide US insurers with relatively high attachment points on their reinsurance programmes, according to market share data from AM Best.