Natural disasters like Hurricane Florence and Genoa’s bridge collapse cost Swiss Re $1.1bn
A string of recent natural disasters will set global reinsurer Swiss Re back roughly $1.1bn (£840m) in its third quarter, it revealed today.
The largest costs were inflicted in September by Typhoon Jebi, the most powerful typhoon to hit Japan for 25 years. Claims from that disaster alone are expected to reach $500m.
Hurricane Florence, the Carr Wildfire in California and a windstorm in Ontario also contributed to the group’s heavy losses in the quarter. In addition, costs for man-made disasters such as the Genoa motorway bridge collapse are expected to reach $300m.
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Despite the significant hit, Swiss Re said its losses for the first nine months of the year were in line with expectations.
The announcement comes just days ahead of the annual reinsurance meeting in Baden-Baden, Germany, where brokers and reinsurers meet to discuss the renewal of contracts before the major renewals season in January.
Swiss Re's group chief underwriting officer, Edouard Schmid, said: "We extend our deepest sympathies to those who have been affected by these catastrophes. We are working very closely with our clients and partners to help rebuild as quickly as possible.
“With our strong capital position and high financial flexibility, we are able to react fast when our clients need us most. We also want to stress our continued commitment to providing capacity in Japan, where we demonstrated our steadfast support following the earthquake off the coast of Honshu in 2011."
The news didn’t impact the company’s share price, which actually rose slightly over the course of the day.