Category:

Disaster & Management

British watchdog enlists 8 insurers in pandemic test case of Business Interruption cover

“We expect the test case to provide guidance for the interpretation of many other business insurance policies that are not in the representative sample,” the FCA said.

The eight insurers asked to take part in the court case were Lloyd’s of London insurers Hiscox, Arch, Argenta and MS Amlin, as well as RSA, QBE, Zurich and Ecclesiastical, the FCA said in a statement.

read more

Hurricanes may cause more pain for pandemic-hit insurers

“What we’ve seen over the past couple of years is an increase of (storm) losses from a frequency and severity perspective,” said Susan Fallon, global head of Property at Zurich Insurance Group.

“There’s an expectation we will see increased rates.”

Lloyd’s of London this month forecast more than $100 billion in underwriting losses from the pandemic in 2020, with those losses coming before the hurricane season even gets going.

The specialist insurance market said the pandemic losses were similar in size to the loss year of 2005 – when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans – and 2017 – when Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria hit Florida, Puerto Rico and Texas.

read more

Covid-19 has not changed in terms of transmissibility, severity: WHO expert

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that the world is “losing its ability” to use critically important antimicrobial medicines.
Speaking at a virtual press conference on Monday, the WHO chief said that the Covid-19 pandemic has led to an increased use of antibiotics, which ultimately will lead to higher bacterial resistance rates, news agency IANS reported.

read more

Moody’s cuts India’s rating to lowest investment grade with negative outlook

Moody’s maintained a negative outlook for the new sovereign rating, citing worsening government finances as the coronavirus continues to hurt the economy.

India’s economy grew 3.1% in January-March, its slowest quarterly pace in at least eight years, and Moody’s expects a contraction of 4% in the current fiscal year, which runs until March 2021, due to the strict lockdown imposed in April and May.

read more

India’s coronavirus infections overtake France amid criticism of lockdown

Criticism has grown in recent days that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s sudden lockdown of 1.3 billion Indians in March has failed to halt the spread of the disease while destroying the livelihoods of millions of people who depend on daily wages.

Community transmission is well underway among the population, a team of independent experts said, adding this would only get worse as public transport opens.

read more

New coronavirus losing potency, top Italian doctor says

“Pending scientific evidence to support the thesis that the virus has disappeared … I would invite those who say they are sure of it not to confuse Italians,” Sandra Zampa, an undersecretary at the health ministry, said in a statement.

“We should instead invite Italians to maintain the maximum caution, maintain physical distancing, avoid large groups, to frequently wash their hands and to wear masks.”

read more