The Financing of Catastrophe Risk
The Financing of Catastrophe Risk

Author: Kenneth A. Froot

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2007-12-01

Total Pages: 490

ISBN-13: 0226266257

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Is it possible that the insurance and reinsurance industries cannot handle a major catastrophe? Ten years ago, the notion that the overall cost of a single catastrophic event might exceed $10 billion was unthinkable. With ever increasing property-casualty risks and unabated growth in hazard-prone areas, insurers and reinsurers now envision the possibility of disaster losses of $50 to $100 billion in the United States. Against this backdrop, the capitalization of the insurance and reinsurance industries has become a crucial concern. While it remains unlikely that a single event might entirely bankrupt these industries, a big catastrophe could place firms under severe stress, jeopardizing both policy holders and investors and causing profound ripple effects throughout the U.S. economy. The Financing of Catastrophe Risk assembles an impressive roster of experts from academia and industry to explore the disturbing yet realistic assumption that a large catastrophic event is inevitable. The essays offer tangible means of both reassessing and raising the level of preparedness throughout the insurance and reinsurance industries.

Catastrophe Insurance
Catastrophe Insurance

Author: Martin F. Grace

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 150

ISBN-13: 1441992685

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1. THE PROBLEM OF CATASTROPHE RISK The risk of large losses from natural disasters in the U.S. has significantly increased in recent years, straining private insurance markets and creating troublesome problems for disaster-prone areas. The threat of mega-catastrophes resulting from intense hurricanes or earthquakes striking major population centers has dramatically altered the insurance environment. Estimates of probable maximum losses (PMLs) to insurers from a mega catastrophe striking the U.S. range up to $100 billion depending on the location and intensity of the event (Applied Insurance Research, 2001).1 A severe disaster could have a significant financial impact on the industry (Cummins, Doherty, and Lo, 2002; Insurance Services Office, 1996a). Estimates of industry gross losses from the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001 range from $30 billion to $50 billion, and the attack's effect on insurance markets underscores the need to understand the dynamics of the supply of and the demand for insurance against extreme events, including natural disasters. Increased catastrophe risk poses difficult challenges for insurers, reinsurers, property owners and public officials (Kleindorfer and Kunreuther, 1999). The fundamental dilemma concerns insurers' ability to handle low-probability, high-consequence (LPHC) events, which generates a host of interrelated issues with respect to how the risk of such events are 1 These probable maximum loss (PML) estimates are based on a SOD-year "return" period.

Catastrophe Modeling
Catastrophe Modeling

Author: Patricia Grossi

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2006-01-27

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 0387231293

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Based on the research that has been conducted at Wharton Risk Management Center over the past five years on catastrophic risk. Covers a hot topic in the light of recent terroristic activities and nature catastrophes. Develops risk management strategies for reducing and spreading the losses from future disasters. Provides glossary of definitions and terms used throughout the book.

Paying the Price
Paying the Price

Author: Richard J. Roth, Sr.

Publisher: Joseph Henry Press

Published: 1998-07-09

Total Pages: 318

ISBN-13: 0309174694

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This book considers the effectiveness of insurance coverage for low-probability, high-consequence events such as natural disastersâ€"and how insurance programs can successfully be used with other policy tools, such as building codes and standards, to encourage effective loss reduction measures. The authors discuss the reasons for the dramatic increase in insured losses from natural disasters since 1989 and the concern that insurers have about their ability to provide coverage against more such events in the future. It addresses why there has been an increasing demand for hazards insurance, what types of coverage private insurers are willing to offer, and the role of reinsurance and private-/public-sector initiatives at the state and federal levels for providing protection to victims of natural disasters. Detailed case studies of the challenges facing Florida in the wake of Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and California following the Northridge earthquake in 1994 reveal the challenges facing the insurance industry as well as other concerned stakeholders. The National Flood Insurance Program illustrates how a public-/private-sector partnership can mitigate damages and provide financial protection to victims. The book identifies new initiatives for reducing future losses and providing funds for recovery through cooperation by the relevant parties.

The Cure for Catastrophe
The Cure for Catastrophe

Author: Robert Muir-Wood

Publisher: Basic Books

Published: 2016-09-06

Total Pages: 370

ISBN-13: 0465096476

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We can't stop natural disasters but we can stop them being disastrous. One of the world's foremost risk experts tells us how. Year after year, floods wreck people's homes and livelihoods, earthquakes tear communities apart, and tornadoes uproot whole towns. Natural disasters cause destruction and despair. But does it have to be this way? In The Cure for Catastrophe, global risk expert Robert Muir-Wood argues that our natural disasters are in fact human ones: We build in the wrong places and in the wrong way, putting brick buildings in earthquake country, timber ones in fire zones, and coastal cities in the paths of hurricanes. We then blindly trust our flood walls and disaster preparations, and when they fail, catastrophes become even more deadly. No society is immune to the twin dangers of complacency and heedless development. Recognizing how disasters are manufactured gives us the power to act. From the Great Lisbon Earthquake of 1755 to Hurricane Katrina, The Cure for Catastrophe recounts the ingenious ways in which people have fought back against disaster. Muir-Wood shows the power and promise of new predictive technologies, and envisions a future where information and action come together to end the pain and destruction wrought by natural catastrophes. The decisions we make now can save millions of lives in the future. Buzzing with political plots, newfound technologies, and stories of surprising resilience, The Cure for Catastrophe will revolutionize the way we conceive of catastrophes: though natural disasters are inevitable, the death and destruction are optional. As we brace ourselves for deadlier cataclysms, the cure for catastrophe is in our hands.

Catastrophe Risk
Catastrophe Risk

Author: William B. Shear

Publisher: DIANE Publishing

Published: 2005-08

Total Pages: 84

ISBN-13: 9780756749446

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Natural catastrophes & terrorist attacks (NCTA) can place enormous financial demands on the insur. industry (II), result in sharply higher prem. & substantially reduced coverage. There are mechanisms to increase the capacity of the II to manage these events. This report: (1) provides an overview of the II's current capacity to cover NCTA risks & discusses the impacts of the 2004 hurricanes; (2) analyzes the potential of catastrophe bonds -- a security issued by insurers & reinsur. & sold to instit'l. investors -- & tax-ded. reserves to enhance private-sector capacity; & (3) describes the approaches that 6 European countries have taken, incl. whether these countries permit insurers to use tax-deductible reserves for such events. Tables.

Natural Catastrophe Risk Management and Modelling
Natural Catastrophe Risk Management and Modelling

Author: Kirsten Mitchell-Wallace

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2017-04-24

Total Pages: 473

ISBN-13: 1118906071

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This book covers both the practical and theoretical aspects of catastrophe modelling for insurance industry practitioners and public policymakers. Written by authors with both academic and industry experience it also functions as an excellent graduate-level text and overview of the field. Ours is a time of unprecedented levels of risk from both natural and anthropogenic sources. Fortunately, it is also an era of relatively inexpensive technologies for use in assessing those risks. The demand from both commercial and public interests—including (re)insurers, NGOs, global disaster management agencies, and local authorities—for sophisticated catastrophe risk assessment tools has never been greater, and contemporary catastrophe modelling satisfies that demand. Combining the latest research with detailed coverage of state-of-the-art catastrophe modelling techniques and technologies, this book delivers the knowledge needed to use, interpret, and build catastrophe models, and provides greater insight into catastrophe modelling’s enormous potential and possible limitations. The first book containing the detailed, practical knowledge needed to support practitioners as effective catastrophe risk modellers and managers Includes hazard, vulnerability and financial material to provide the only independent, comprehensive overview of the subject, accessible to students and practitioners alike Demonstrates the relevance of catastrophe models within a practical, decision-making framework and illustrates their many applications Includes contributions from many of the top names in the field, globally, from industry, academia, and government Natural Catastrophe Risk Management and Modelling: A Practitioner’s Guide is an important working resource for catastrophe modelling analysts and developers, actuaries, underwriters, and those working in compliance or regulatory functions related to catastrophe risk. It is also valuable for scientists and engineers seeking to gain greater insight into catastrophe risk management and its applications.

Disaster Insurance
Disaster Insurance

Author: United States. Congress. House. Committee on Banking and Currency

Publisher:

Published: 1956

Total Pages: 442

ISBN-13:

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Considers legislation to authorize the Housing and Home Finance Agency to issue indemnity contracts to protect persons against real or personal property losses caused by floods.

Natural Catastrophe Insurance
Natural Catastrophe Insurance

Author: Orice M. Williams

Publisher: DIANE Publishing

Published: 2008-11

Total Pages: 43

ISBN-13: 1437905412

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Disputes between policyholders and insurers after the 2005 hurricanes highlight the challenges of determining the cause and extent of damages when properties are subject to both high winds and flooding. Additionally, insurers want to reduce their exposure in high-risk areas, and state wind insur. programs have grown significantly. The Flood Insur. Reform Act of 2007, would create a combined fed. insur. program with coverage for both wind and flood damage. This report evaluates this potential program in terms of: (1) what would be required to implement it; (2) the steps FEMA would need to take to determine premium rates that reflect all future costs; and (3) how it could affect policyholders, insur. market participants, and the fed. gov¿t. Illus.