Hurricane bill for Hiscox could hit $225 million

Hiscox has estimated it is facing combined net claims from Hurricanes Harvey and Irma of up to $225 million.

According to the company, the estimate is based on an insured market loss of $35 billion for Hurricane Irma and $25 billion for Hurricane Harvey. This excludes the government-backed National Flood Insurance Program.

Hiscox said that it is disclosing a combined figure due to the interrelated nature of reinsurance recoveries for these two events.

The company stated that it still has ‘depth of cover’ in its reinsurance programme.

1. “These events are already having an impact on rates in the global insurance market, particularly in affected areas and specific sectors,” said Bronek Masojada, Hiscox Group CEO. “After a number of years of rate reductions, we are starting to see price corrections, most acutely in affected lines such as large property insurance and catastrophe reinsurance, which we expect to spread to non­affected lines. Although these are huge insured events, sadly, they also highlight the lack of cover in places.”