TUESDAY
17.10.17
News
Wildfires among the costliest on record
Risk modelling firm RMS suggested late last
week that insured losses could be between $3 and
$6 billion.
CoreLogic estimates there are over 172,000
homes exposed to wildfire risk in the Napa
and Santa Rosa metro areas, with a combined
reconstruction cost of more than $65 billion.
Most of the damage will fall into homeowners’
and commercial property coverages, while there
could be limited effect on other lines of business
such as auto physical damage and inland marine,
according to Moody’s.
According to catastrophe modelling firm
AIR Worldwide, winds moderated on Sunday,
October 15, allowing firefighters to make
progress towards containing the 15 large wildfires
active across California.
Almost 75,000 people remained evacuated.
At the time of writing mandatory evacuation
orders have been lifted in some areas, including
the cities of Napa and Calistoga. Although
winds have died down temporarily and light
rain is forecast for the region later this week, the
situation remains extremely volatile, AIR said.
Temperatures will likely be cooler over the
next few days and winds are expected to ease,
but may shift again later this week. Significant
rainfall is unlikely, but according to the National
Weather Service, a system from the Gulf of
Alaska may bring light rain to the region on
Thursday morning. n
PCI unveils new officers to board of governors
The Property Casualty Insurers Association
of America (PCI) elected new officers to its
Board of Governors during its annual meeting.
Kurt Bock, CEO, Country Financial was
elected as PCI’s chair; Pete McPartland, chairman
of the board, president and CEO, Sentry Insurance
was elected first vice chair; and Jim Brannen, CEO,
FBL Financial Group was elected second vice chair.
“We are thrilled that Kurt will be taking the
wheel of PCI,” said David Sampson, president
and CEO of PCI. “Kurt is an experienced leader.
Over the last several years, he has guided PCI
and our members on a number of our priorities,
including federal tax reform, financial regulation
reform, and auto safety.
“As an industry and nation, we are in an era
of unprecedented change and disruption from
technological, economic, demographic, and
geopolitical sources. Our new officers bring a
high level of expertise that will help PCI and our
members shape the future of the home, auto,
and business insurance marketplace.”
Kurt Bock
Bock is now CEO of Country Financial. He
joined the Illinois Agriculture Association (IAA)
family of companies in 2003 as chief executive
officer of the IAA Credit Union. Bock was
appointed to the Federal Advisory Committee on
Insurance in 2015. He earned a bachelor’s degree
of science from the US Air Force Academy, a
master’s degree in business administration from
istockphoto/Toa55
Southern Illinois University, and a doctoral
degree of philosophy in business administration
from Saint Louis University.
McPartland is chairman of the board,
president and CEO of Sentry Insurance. He
joined Sentry in 2010. Prior to joining Sentry,
McPartland served in a variety of executive
positions with Fireman’s Fund, General Casualty,
and Golden Eagle Insurance. He currently serves
on the board of the Workers Compensation
Research Institute and is a graduate of the
University of Florida.
Brannen is CEO of FBL Financial Group.
He joined FBL in 1991 and has held various
positions in finance and executive management.
Prior to joining FBL, Brannen worked in public
accounting. He currently serves on the board of
directors and various committees of the Greater
Des Moines Partnership, Great Western Bank and
as a member of the Iowa Business Council and
the Greater Des Moines Committee. Brannen is a
graduate of the University of Iowa. n
The wildfires still raging in California will
be among the costliest wildfires on record
for US P&C insurers and could cost the industry
up to $6 billion, according to early industry
estimates.
Moody’s has released a report assessing
the impact of the wildfires in California on
property/casualty insurers, in which it suggests
that assuming an average value of $802,000 per
structure, losses would be close to $4.6 billion
and growing as the fires continue.
“Based on history and the number of
structures damaged, insured losses will run into
the billions of dollars, a credit negative,” the
report states. “These fires will be among the
costliest wildfires on record for US P&C insurers,
which were already hit by high third-quarter
catastrophe losses from hurricanes Harvey, Irma
and Maria and the Mexico earthquakes.”
The confirmed death toll has risen to 40,
more than 217,000 acres have burned, and it
is estimated that 5,700 structures have been
destroyed.
16 | PCI TODAY | DAY 3: Tuesday October 17 2017 www.intelligentinsurer.com | www.bermudareinsurancemagazine.com