All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Mar 2 2020 // Three men have pleaded guilty to scamming Florida Panhandle homeowners out of about $319,000 by promising to repair hurricane damage and never doing the work.Edward Newton, Christoper Mayes and Christian Pantazonis each...
Feb 28 2020 // U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced additional disaster assistance available to agricultural producers, including producers impacted by drought and excess moisture as well as sugar beet growers.California...
Feb 28 2020 // Assemblyman Marc Levine, D-Marin County, has introduced Assembly Bill 3258, which would require property insurance providers to take into consideration local government investments in wildfire prevention when determining...
Feb 28 2020 // The newly appointed U.S. official charged with overseeing disaster recovery in Puerto Rico said this week that while the pace of federally funded projects to help hurricane and earthquake victims has quickened, he’s...
Feb 28 2020 // California officials are bracing for the potential of another drought and an early and more intense wildfire season amid a record-breaking warm and dry February.February is shaping up to be driest on record for much of the...
Feb 28 2020 // The California Public Utilities Commission has issued an administrative law judge decision imposing $2.137 billion in penalties against Pacific Gas and Electric Company for the utility’s role in the catastrophic 2017...
Feb 28 2020 // The World Health Organization says the coronavirus isn’t yet a global pandemic. Bonds that insure against just such a catastrophe say that it probably is.The bonds, sold in 2017 by the World Bank to raise money for...
Feb 28 2020 // Georgia’s governor and agriculture commissioner on Wednesday announced that $347 million in federal disaster relief funding would soon be available to farmers, nearly a year and a half after Hurricane Michael caused...
Feb 27 2020 // A $13.5 billion settlement between victims of California’s catastrophic wildfires and the utility blamed for causing them was supposed to bring some peace and hope to people still reeling from the...
Feb 26 2020 // Pacific Gas & Electric has fired a contractor hired to haul debris from the site of a deadly 2018 Northern California wildfire, saying the company was over-billing the utility and paying “large sums of money and...
Feb 25 2020 // It’s no surprise that Florida carriers are raising homeowners’ insurance rates given several years of catastrophes and losses from litigation related to assignment of benefits and water damage claims.What may...
Feb 24 2020 // Full-year insurance results at Berkshire Hathaway disappointed in 2019, with after-tax earnings from underwriting falling to $325 million in 2019 compared to $1.6 billion in 2018.Earnings from primary insurance operations...
Feb 24 2020 // Experts say the big one is coming to the Pacific Northwest: a massive earthquake that will cause buildings and bridges to collapse and unleash a tsunami that will devastate the coast.But, doubling down on its decision last...
Feb 24 2020 // Last year was a particularly hazardous one, with natural catastrophes causing excessive damages in what appears to be an ongoing trend of higher losses in the past decade, while also posing a danger in many U.S....
Feb 24 2020 // For most of the 20th century, the insurance industry considered wildfires to be little more than a nuisance. They were frequent but rarely resulted in more than a handful of claims, and underwriters priced for them in the...
Feb 21 2020 // A fund that offers only fire insurance to California residents in wildfire-prone areas can’t be required to provide coverage for other hazards such as flooding or theft, a judge ruled this week.Superior Court Judge...
Feb 20 2020 // Pacific Gas and Electric says it expects to become more profitable than ever after it emerges from bankruptcy and pays off more than $25 billion in losses sustained in catastrophic wildfires ignited by its outdated...
Feb 20 2020 // As the coronavirus outbreak continues to cause concern around the globe, the insurance industry is facing a potentially far-reaching impact but has the experience to handle what might come its way.Based on what the...
Feb 19 2020 // The wind and hail insurance carrier of last resort for counties along the Texas coast has determined that its 1-in-100 probable maximum loss (1:100 PML) for the 2020 catastrophe year is $4.2 billion.At a quarterly meeting...
Feb 18 2020 // A newly proposed bill would clarify under California law the concept of “hardened homes” that are safer or more resistant to wildfires and then require admitted carriers to cover those homes.California’s...