January insurance, reinsurance renewal rates fall: Hiscox

HAMILTON, Bermuda—Insurance and reinsurance rates fell at the Jan. 1 renewal, Hiscox Ltd. said in a trading statement issued Wednesday.

In the statement, Hamilton, Bermuda-based Hiscox said that in its London market division, which underwrites a mix of insurance and reinsurance business, rates fell by an average of 1.5%.

The company’s Bermuda-based reinsurance operations saw average rate decreases of 7.5% on renewal business, the company said.

Hiscox said it would continue to walk away from business that it considers to be poorly rated.

Hiscox said its current combined estimate for claims from the Chilean earthquake, European windstorm Xynthia and the New Zealand earthquake in 2010 is about £115 million ($184.1 million).

Hiscox said its estimate of claims from the New Zealand earthquake was about £37 million ($59.2 million), based on an estimated insured market loss of $6 billion ($9.6 billion) New Zealand.

Hiscox, which operates a U.K. insurance company, said net claims from frozen weather conditions in the United Kingdom in December 2010 likely will be about £16 million ($25.6 million).

The company said estimates of losses from flooding in Queensland, Australia, still are evolving but said it believed it was “underweight in this area.”

Hiscox will report financial results for 2010 on Feb. 28.