Category: Un-Natural Disasters

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Top 10 Disasters of 2010

View the video here on your mobile device. As 2010 draws to a close, it’s time to take a tally of what happened in the world this year. Unfortunately, between man-made and natural disasters, it was a busy year. Swiss Re estimates that worldwide losses from disasters and catastrophes were $222 billion, more than triple [...]

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Insurers join to deliver enhanced liability limits for deepwater drilling

Guy Carpenter and Willis Re are working alongside Aon Benfield as placement advisors to a new sudden oil spill consortium, which aims to deliver larger liability limit coverage for deepwater drilling in U.S. waters. All energy retail brokers will be able to access the facility, SOSCover, on behalf of their clients. Aon Benfield has agreed [...]

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Insurer, eight others sued for Deepwater oil spill

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a civil lawsuit that accuses nine organizations of violating the Clean Water Act, following the April 20, 2010 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig. The DOJ is asking the court to also hold them liable under the Oil Pollution Act for all removal costs and damages caused [...]

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Be aware of Christmas light electrical hazards

View the video here on your mobile device. It’s the time of year when many of us try to take this and convert it to this. Well, maybe something more like this. But definitely not this, or worse, this. The Ontario Electrical Safety Authority wants homeowners to be aware of potential hazards when installing their [...]

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Natural and man-made catastrophes caused $222 billion in losses in 2010

According to initial estimates from Swiss Re’s sigma team, worldwide economic losses from natural catastrophes and man-made disasters were USD $222 billion in 2010, more than triple the 2009 figure of USD 63 billion. The cost to the global insurance industry was USD $36 billion, an increase of 34% over the previous year. Approximately 260 [...]

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BP says spill costs rise to $11.2B; Gulf of Mexico assets pledged as collateral

BP says the cost of its Gulf of Mexico well blowout has reached $11.2 billion, and the company has put up some assets to guarantee payment of claims. BP said on October 1 that it had pledged royalty interests in production from several platforms in the Gulf including Thunder Horse, which began production two years [...]

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Deepwater Horizon disaster not a watershed event for P&C market

The Deepwater Horizon disaster will not be a major event for the property & casualty insurance industry, according to Towers Watson. Based on available, published information, Towers Watson estimates that net commercially insured losses will be between $4 billion and $6 billion, a fraction of the total economic loss that is currently estimated to be [...]

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Leak to blame for deadly Sunrise Propane explosions, report excerpts show

A leak during an illegal propane transfer is to blame for a series of explosions that sent fireballs hurtling into the early morning sky over a Toronto neighbourhood, report excerpts show. A report by the Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office into the 2008 blasts at a Sunrise Propane facility was completed last month, said a city [...]

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Pipeline company Enbridge offers to buy homes in area around oil spill in Michigan river

The company whose pipeline ruptured and dumped hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil into a southern Michigan waterway said it has offered to buy up to 200 homes in the affected area. Enbridge Inc. Chief Executive Patrick Daniel said the Canadian company will buy homes put up for sale before last month’s spill in [...]

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Ship captain to stand trial over Aussie oil spill

A cargo ship captain and four companies were ordered on July 7 to stand trial on charges related to an oil spill off Australia’s coast last year. After the three-day hearing in Brisbane Magistrates Court, defense attorney Tony Glynn entered pleas of not guilty on behalf of Manila-based Capt. Bernardino Gonzales Santos and the ship’s [...]

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BP will set up $20B fund for victims of oil spill

BP has agreed to finance a US$20 billion fund to pay the claims of people whose jobs and way of life have been damaged by the devastating oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, President Barack Obama said on June 16.   Obama said the $20 billion will provide substantial assurance that legitimate claims made [...]

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NFIP to cover damage caused by oil in flood waters

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has confirmed that National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) policies will cover property damage caused by oil in flood waters. “FEMA’s clarification comes after rising concerns over whether flood insurance policies would cover damage to homes and businesses if oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill mixes with flood waters, comes [...]

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Hurricanes and the oil spill

Hurricane season has officially begun in all regions. (Hurricane season in the Atlantic begins June 1st and ends November 30th. The Eastern Pacific hurricane season begins May 15th and also ends November 30th.) With the added difficulties stemming from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill this year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has issued [...]

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Willis: Rig losses driving rates up

The Deepwater Horizon and Aban Pearl drilling rig losses have left upstream energy insurers with an unprecedented bill of US $795 million within the space of a single month, destabilizing the market and driving up rates, according to a new report from Willis Group Holdings. Despite the twin rig disasters, most major insurers have honored [...]

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Owner of sunken rig gets $401M insurance money

Transocean Ltd. said on May 5 that it has received $401 million in insurance payments for an oil rig that exploded and sank two weeks ago in the Gulf of Mexico. Transocean also said in a regulatory filing that it has received a request from the U.S. Justice Department to preserve information about the rig [...]

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Oil spill claims in Gulf estimated at $1.4 billion

Companies with exposure to the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico are insured for losses totaling about $1.4 billion, according to initial reports from the companies involved in the incident as well as early insurance and reinsurance industry estimates compiled by the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.).  “The insurance losses [...]

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BP’s oil spill may not damage creditworthiness

Fitch Ratings says that while it anticipates BP will be negatively impacted by the containment and clean-up costs associated with the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, it is mindful that insurance coverage will likely cover the majority of these costs, limiting the cash outlay and potential related rating pressure for BP. Fitch says [...]

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Guy Carpenter looks at oil rig explosion, sinking

An explosion and large fire on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico left 11 workers missing and 17 others injured on April 20. The blaze on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig sent flames and smoke high into the sky about 40 miles off the coast of Louisiana. A  new report from Guy Carpenter [...]

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BI Losses at Connecticut Powerplant

View the video here on your mobile device. On February 7, a massive explosion rocked an under-construction power plant in Middletown, Connecticut, killing five people, including one Canadian. There was extensive damage to the Kleen Energy Systems facility, which was 95 percent complete and set to open in the summer. It would have been the [...]

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