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The 10th Allianz Risk Barometer is the most comprehensive of the insurer’s annual corporate risk surveys and compiles responses from 2,769 Allianz global business customers, brokers and industry trade organizations in 92 nations and territories. According to the responses, the 10 major risks were: business interruption; pandemic outbreak; cyber incidents; market developments; changes in legislation and regulation; natural catastrophes; fires, explosion; macroeconomic developments; climate change increasing weather volatility; and political risks and violence. The risks are ranked according to how frequently they were named in the latest survey, and the percentage of respondents that named each in the 2020 survey is also listed. A graphic display of 16 nations identifies the three risks that their respondents most frequently identified as top threats. The report discusses at length the risks referred to as the COVID trio: business interruption; the pandemic outbreak; and cyber incidents. The report includes multiple exhibits. Full report
This report reveals that the 416 global natural catastrophe events of 2020 resulted in economic losses of $268 billion—8 percent above the average annual losses for this century—as costs continue to rise due to a changing climate, more people moving into hazard-prone areas and an increase in global wealth. Of this total, private sector and government-sponsored insurance programs covered $97 billion, creating a protection gap of 64 percent. Natural disaster relief throughout the world was complicated by the coronavirus pandemic and the insurance industry was forced to balance numerous major disasters with litigation related to pandemic incidents, increased replacement costs because of supply-chain disruptions and other complications. The industry’s strong capitalization allowed all of the disasters to be managed and for coverage to remain in place. The report, designed to help identify trends, enhance risk mitigation, transfer risk and build resilience, contains numerous exhibits of loss events by region, long-term natural disaster trends, historical natural disaster events, global tropical cyclone activity, U.S. severe weather data, global earthquakes and U.S. and Europe wildfire data. Full report
Losses from natural catastrophes were significantly higher in 2020 than the previous year. Global losses from natural disasters rose to $210 billion in 2020, and $82 billion of these losses were insured. Both overall losses and insured losses were significantly higher than the $166 billion and $57 billion recorded respectively in 2019. U.S. losses in 2020 represented $95 billion of the year’s overall losses and $67 billion of insured losses. The uninsured portion of natural disaster losses was 60 percent of the total in 2020. Six of the year’s 10 costliest natural disasters hit the U.S., and the most destructive of these disasters was Hurricane Laura, which resulted in overall losses of $13 billion, $10 billion of which were insured. Overall losses from the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season totaled $43 billion, $26 billion of which were insured. The article also includes data on Midwestern thunderstorms and the cyclones that flooded parts of Asia. Full report
This report explores the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on workers compensation claim composition. A wide range of sectors saw economic declines, with some industries being affected far more substantially. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that nonfarm pay employment fell 881,000 in March 2020, a 0.6 percent decline, and then fell by another of 20.5 million in April 2020, a 13.5 percent decline. The leisure and hospitality sector accounted for approximately half of the jobs lost in April, with major declines also seen in healthcare; social assistance and education; professional and business services; and retail and manufacturing. The full impact of the economic downturn resulting from the pandemic remains to be seen. Two major questions are under consideration by policymakers and stakeholders: how was workers comp affected by the massive slowdown of economic activity when the pandemic first appeared; and to what extent have coronavirus claims been reported in the workers comp system. The report includes multiple exhibits. Full report
The article focuses on the classification of telecommuters and considers the potential implications of the increase in telecommuting on workers comp. As of May 2020 one-third of the nation’s workforce had worked from home. Some of these employees have returned to work in company offices, but many are continuing to telecommute. Working from home has become the norm in the office and clerical industry group, which accounts for nearly 60 percent of total payroll. Approximately 75 percent of office-based business and professional employees began working from home early in the pandemic, and pandemic-related changes in work duties and other changes in the exposure of the office and clerical industry group had a subsequent impact on the loss experience. The article includes a table of the top 15 class codes, ranked by payroll in the office and clerical industry group, policy year 2018. The percentages of both payroll share and premium share are listed for each of the 15 class codes. A table shows the average pure loss costs of several categories of the office and clerical industry group. A bar graph shows the share of office and clerical claims for the following loss categories: slip and fall, strain, stuck by/caught in/puncture, motor vehicle and other, as well as the severity relativity score of each. For more details, readers are directed to the NCCI’s Quarterly Economic Briefing, entitled Remote Work Before, During and After the Pandemic. Full report
A survey by the Insurance Research Council (IRC) found that two-thirds of respondents worked from home at least part of the time during the COVID-19 pandemic and half expect to continue working from home entirely or alternate between working and not working from home in the future. Nearly half of consumers said they expect to do less in-person shopping in retail stores even after the pandemic retreats. Both findings point to a continuing reduction in vehicle travel. One-third of homeowners indicated they had undertaken substantial home improvement projects since the start of the pandemic. Significant home improvements have insurance implications to the extent that they increase the replacement cost of the home or, in some cases such as installing swimming pools, introduce additional liability risk. Other pandemic developments with possible impact on liability risk include the number of Americans adopting dogs (21 percent) or acquiring firearms (13 percent). Half the respondents said they were concerned about their financial future; the most commonly cited actions taken were to reduce spending on travel and entertainment. A small percentage of respondents indicated that they had taken steps to reduce insurance spending, such as shopping for less expensive insurance or reducing coverage. “This survey suggests the effects of COVID-19, including those impacting the property-casualty insurance industry, may continue even after the virus is under control,” said David Corum, CPCU, vice president of the IRC. “The results also reveal younger, urban, and lower income consumers have been more severely impacted by many economic aspects of the pandemic.” News Release