Catlin Announces $200M In Sandy Claims
Bermuda-based insurer Catlin, operator of the biggest syndicate at Lloyd’s of London, is set to absorb about $200 million in claims from Hurricane Sandy, the firm announced today [Dec. 18]. Rival Hiscox, which has its head office in Bermuda, meanwhile put its exposure at $25 million.
Sandy, a 1,000-mile wide storm which killed 132 as it swept through the north-eastern United States on October 29, is expected to cost insurers up to $25 billion, making it the second-costliest storm after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Insurers and analysts have said the size of the affected region, which includes New York and other densely populated and industrialised areas, makes the final damage bill difficult to calculate.
“This estimate is subject to a considerable degree of uncertainty due to the size of the storm system, and the wide variety of damage it caused,” Catlin said.
Sandy came at the end of a relatively uneventful year for natural catastrophes, in contrast with 2011, the insurance industry’s second-costliest on record after earthquakes in Japan and New Zealand generated a claims bill of more than $100 billion.
Catlin shares had dipped three percent by 5:45 a.m. Bermuda time against a 0.3 percent rise in the mid-cap FTSE 250 share index, partly surrendering a 21 percent gain since the start of the year. Hiscox were 0.8 percent lower.
The Lloyd’s of London market, a collection of about 80 competing insurance syndicates that sell protection against natural catastrophe and other risks worldwide, has not yet said how much Sandy will cost it collectively.
