The Price For Catastrophe Reinsurance Increased An Average Of 32 Percent

A report issued on September 7th by Guy Carpenter & Company, Inc. shows that global pricing was significantly influenced by extreme rate peaks experienced in the United States and Mexico, which absorbed the majority of the losses from the 2005 storms. Rate increases in the United States and Mexico averaged 76 percent and 129 percent, respectively, compared with a 2 percent increase for the rest of the world. Total insured/reinsured losses reached $83 billion in 2005, with $72.6 billion of the insured losses occurring in North America – about 70 percent higher than the prior record of $48 billion in 2004.