When we think of large insured losses arising from natural or manmade disasters, we see images from hurricane or earthquake devastation. First-party property damage and business interruption losses make the headlines.
Executive Summary
Better predictability of certain natural catastrophes is just one of the factors influencing the propensity for casualty claims in the wake of natural disasters. Here Swiss Re's Jennifer Steven and Daniel Knuesli explain why this is true and discuss other reasons for insurers to think more seriously about casualty claims related to property events.Although we know there are often related casualty claims, we tend to think of these on a secondary basis. Costly events such as the 2007 California wildfires and the 2009 Victoria brushfires have changed our perspective.
There are a growing number of casualty claims stemming from the traditional property claims cluster. While there have been relatively few events, the ones we have seen show a concerning trend, especially for wildfires and floods.
