"Hurricane Maria a $30bn re/insurance loss: Karen Clark & Company"

From Artemis, Sept. 29:

Catastrophe risk modelling specialists Karen Clark & Company (KCC) have put the insurance and reinsurance industry loss from hurricane Maria’s Caribbean and Puerto Rico impacts at $30 billion, which falls at the top-end of RMS’ estimate, but below the low-end of AIR’s.

The addition of this third estimate of insured losses caused by hurricane Maria helps, as we begin to find a point to focus on in the broad range from the low-end of RMS’s estimate of $15 billion to the top-end of AIR’s at $85 billion.

Coincidentally, the majority of equity analysts we track had been working off an assumption of $30 billion to $40 billion of losses from Maria in their calculations, so KCC’s $30 billion estimate provides additional evidence that the eventual industry loss will be around this point.

KCC’s estimate is based on modelled output and puts Puerto Rico as the lions share of the industry loss from hurricane Maria, at $28.35 billion. The U.S. Virgin Islands add $789m, Dominica is put at $445m, Guadeloupe $119m and other Caribbean territories will contribute another $94m to the industry loss, according to KCC.

The total estimate is for $29.797 billion of losses to fall to insurance and reinsurance interests....MORE