Leading reinsurers predict rising demand for cover.
Demand for reinsurance will climb in the forthcoming renewal season on the back of this year’s dangerous hurricanes, the chief executive of Willis Re in the US has predicted. Paddy Jago said the recent trend for companies to buy less reinsurance would be reversed.
Speaking to Insurance Times at this year’s Rendezvous in Monte Carlo, Jago said reinsurance spend had declined 10%-15% after hurricane Katrina in 2005 as insurers chose to retain more risk on their balance sheets. He predicted that demand for reinsurance would start to increase again. His comments came as hurricane Ike left a trail of destruction in the Caribbean. Hurricane Gustav, which hit the US last week, could cost insurers up to $10bn (£5.7bn).
Reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter said catastrophe reinsurance rates had declined for a second consecutive year. Globally, rates dropped by 10% on average in 2008, compared with 6% in 2007, the broker said.
