Hurricane Katrina - The Five Year Anniversary

Hurricane Katrina was the costliest hurricane, as well as one of the deadliest, in U.S. history.

The storm formed over the Bahamas on August 23, 2005 and crossed southern Florida soon thereafter as a Category 1 hurricane before strengthening rapidly in the Gulf of Mexico. Katrina made its second U.S. landfall as a Category 3 storm on the morning of August 29, 2005 in southeast Louisiana. Between 1,300 and 1,500 people lost their lives as a result of Hurricane Katrina.
Five years later, Hurricane Katrina remains the largest single loss event in the history of the global insurance industry, causing an estimated $41.1 billion in insured damage ($45.1 billion in 2009 dollars) and 1.7 million claims across six states.
Louisiana and Mississippi were the hardest-hit states.
This number does not include $16.1 billion in losses from flooding insured by the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), or the $2 billion to $3 billion of insured damages to offshore energy facilities.
Damage from Hurricane Katrina shattered the previous record for a natural catastrophe event set in 1992, when Hurricane Andrew caused $15.5 billion in insured losses at the time it occurred ($22.2 billion in 2009 dollars), with 790,000 claims in three states

After banks, stress tests for insurance

The purpose of the new capital framework will be to relate all the risks that companies assume with the insured and must meet the 99.50% of the worst case scenario that could arise.

Already CEIOPS, the European Committee for regulating the insurance industry, Solvency II through the protocol is working to extend the rules of Basel II in the insurance industry to cover credit risk, market risk and operational. For the banks 'agreement reached last week in Basel at the Bank for, among central bank governors called Basel 3, try to increase significantly the coverage of risks in banks' trading operations.

The level of cover needed will also increase by 9 times the current needs of capital, with consequent need for recapitalization of banks themselves. If similar rules in a few years, insurance companies should extend to the need for recapitalization of the sector would become very large as well as also very expensive.

Floods increase the prices of car insurance

According to Jose Carlos de Oliveira, a member of the Automobile Federation National General Insurance (FenSeg), the number of accidents caused by natural phenomena in São Paulo in 2010 was double that recorded at the beginning of last year. "We have recorded an increase of 103% in the number of cases of car accident victims because of the floods," said Oliveira, who is also director of automobile insurance of Maritime Insurance.



Only in Rio de Janeiro, between Monday (5) and Tuesday (6), Mapfre Seguros had 30% more requests winch, due to heavy rains that hit the city and left more than 100 cars submerged . "Only on Tuesday did almost 400 calls in the city," says vice president of Mapfre Seguros, Jabis de Mendonça Alexandre.

The increase in the number of vehicles affected by heavy rains is directly linked to the high price of policies. According to quotes provided by insurers to G1, a single man of 25 years, residing in Sao Paulo paid R $ 2,172.63 for insurance in 2009 from an average hatch of value between $ 30,000 and $ 35,000. In 2010, the price charged for insurance was R $ 2,533.72, an increase of 16.6%.

Already the policy of a woman, aged 30, also unmarried and a resident of the state capital, rose 80%. The owner of the car worth between $ 40,000 and $ 50,000 R $ 2,245.84 paid by the insurance model in 2009 and this year the price jumped to R $ 4,041.39. "All insured persons are complaining about the increase from 2009 and not much to flee, because the increase in value has reached all the insurance companies," said the broker Ivone Maria Ribeiro.

Despite the difference in the values of the policies observed in the examples, the vice president of Mapfre Insurance says the increase in 2010 should be between 10% and 20% of the amount paid last year. "Insurers need to create funds to cover losses and only way to ensure this is to move the prices of policies," says Alexander. "The cities most vulnerable to storms and floods, like Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and Santa Catarina are the ones with the highest increases."

The member of the Automobile FenSeg emphasizes that the rise in price is also related to other factors such as increased cost of labor, parts and content theft. "Everything was a little worse this year." Despite the large floods have occurred in the early years, the owners still renew insurance also feel the high. "Insurance pricing the next 12 months based on the index claims of the previous 12 months, so even those who still will close the insurance should pay more," says Oliveira.

Quatro Rodas Experience 2010

The gotten passionate ones for cars cannot be and are of the Four Wheels Experience 2010 (QRX), event that promises to become dreams in an only experience.

Carried through in the Automobile race track of Interlagos the QRX it is a practically only possibility of tests cars of Brazil and the world in umaqrx2008 of the best and more emotive tracks of race of the world.

Infantile Videogames, track off-road, attractions, square of feeding and exposition of military vehicles complete the list of attractions of the event The visitor ingressions give to access to the all the attractions, without restriction, and can be acquired independent of test-drives, diversion for all the family! Service: When: 02 the 06 of June of 2010
Where: Automobile race track of Interlagos - SP Schedule: of 8h to 18h

Source: Reviewed 4 Wheels

Assurances car: increased prices for citizens romeni

WHAT?!, racism spreading or obvious uneasiness from the communitarian citizens, which of fact is over recent years the romeni that they live in Italy, than of forehead to the necessity to assure they car sure finds of forehead to estimates more beloveds regarding their “Italian colleagues”? Insomma, it seems to inside enter of right a new voice of insurance contracts; risk is called “nationality” and ago eccome the difference, because for a French, German insured person who lives in Italy it is a thing, but for a romeno, to how much seems the situation is very other, costs of the Rc by far increased Car regarding that traditional one.

There is who has made a test online in order to verify all this, has asked to a Company on Internet to assure an car following a profile of assuring of male sex having sure characteristics, with the result that, if these the cost of the insurance prize were Italian would have been of 1.962, 58 euros, that they leavend to 2.257, 50 euros if the origin of the insured person had been romena.

Before called in cause in the within of the Insurance agencies the Carige, relatively to the section branch you damn. But the same thing happens also with the Zurich Connect where to an Italian the policy for a new Fiat 500 would cost 1,040 euros that become 1,251, 14 for a citizen romeno having same characteristics and same car of the Italian, that they become 1,040, 76 if the city one were an American and 1,251, 14 if Moroccan.

Not all the assurances, but, apply differentiated rates. Also in this case enough to ask for the estimates, before like Italians, then like romeni. The Genialloyd and Milan Assurances (Land group You know), as an example, do not make distinctions based on the nationality.
Mouths sewn to the ISVAP, more or less as it happens to the Ania, where are attempted to fly over on the problem, announcing lacked competences on the argument, remains to interpellare the Associations of the Consumers who assert as “Based on the liberalizzazione of - Ivano Daelli di `the 94 Altroconsumo supports - every company has straight to apply own rates, depositing them to the Isvap. The company therefore can also tariffare in various way based on a nationality, considering it to greater risk. The customer must then entrust itself to the free competition”. About “serious diseguaglianza” Association of legal studies speaks instead the lawyer Mark Pages of the Asgi (on immigration), because “article 43 of the Unified Body of Laws on immigration considers discriminatorio the access differentiated to a service, based on the simple nationality of the petitioner”.
It announces battle, at last, Eugen Terteleac, president of the Association romeni in Italy, against that which it calls “a evident diseguaglianza”.