Insurance news of 2010 – The first quarter review

By ILSTV Staff on Dec 27, 2010 in Canadian Insurance, International Insurance, Trends

As 2010 draws to a close, ILSTV will be taking a look back at the insurance news that made headlines this year. Today we’ll look at the first quarter of the year.

The three months of 2010 were the worst ever for catastrophe losses, according to Willis Re.

On January 12, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti, ravaging the Caribbean nation. By January 24, at least 52 aftershocks measuring 4.5 or greater had been recorded. The Haitian government said that 230,000 people were killed in the quake, aftershocks and after affects, 300,000 were injured and as many as one million were left homeless. The Inter-American Development Bank said that the earthquake may have caused $14 billion in damage.

Earthquakes again hit the world, when on February 27, an 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck south of Chile. While the country declared a state of catastrophe, evaluations are still being made to assess the damages.

Risk modeler EQECAT estimates the total value of economic damage to be in the range of $15 to $30 billion USD, equating to 10 to 15% of Chile’s real GDP.

Closer to home, on December 31, 2009, Prime Minister Stephen Harper prorogued the Canadian Parliament after an eleven month session. It was a controversial move, and IBC spoke to ILSTV about the government’s decision.

In February, the eyes of the world were on Canada, especially Vancouver, as the 21^st Winter Olympics were held in British Columbian venues. ILSTV looked at what it took to insure such a major event.

On February 28, 16.6 million Canadians watched the Canadian men’s hockey team face the rivaling U.S., with Canada ultimately winning the gold medal in overtime. Sidney Crosby scored the game-winning goal, but can he do it again when the Olympics head to Russia in 2014? See: Do insurance costs mean the end of NHL Olympians?

February also saw the Insurance Bureau of Canada launch its voluntary code for credit scoring, an issue which would heat up throughout the year, starting in New Brunswick.

That’s just a sampling of some of the news that affected Canadians and the insurance industry in the first quarter of 2010. What do you remember most about the first quarter? What had the biggest impact on your or your business? Leave a comment here or call our toll-free comments line at 1-877-703-2713.

Check back this week as we continue the look back at 2010.