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North America

1.  19 States Approve ISO’s Telematics-Based Auto Rating Tool (Insurance Journal)

April 2 2013: Insurance technical and policy services organization ISO said it has filed its first vehicle telematics-based rating rule with insurance regulators in  33 states and received approvals in 19 states.

The GeoMetric rating rule for use by insurers writing personal and commercial automobiles uses information collected via telematics to award discounts for vehicles operated in areas safer than where they are garaged.

The GeoMetric rating rule uses a set of predictive modeling tools called ISO Risk Analyzer, whiche considers hundreds of variables related to where people live, work, and drive to measure the risks posed at each geographic location. ISO said the GeoMetric product builds on those insights by applying the geographic risk measurements to each vehicle’s driving locations.

The end result is a report showing the number of miles and time traveled by the insured within each risk tier, or band.

Vehicles that are garaged in higher bands but frequently travel into lower bands may be eligible for discounts of up to 25% under the program.

Europe

2.  PERILS Updates  European Cat Exposure Database for 2013; 1.9% Rise in Values (Insurance Journal)

April 02 2013: PERILS AG, the independent Zurich-based company providing industry-wide European catastrophe insurance data, has released an update for 2013 of its European Industry Exposure Database, which contains updated market-wide property values insured for European windstorms.

The update covers the following 11 countries: Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. In addition, the database includes updated property estimates covering insured exposures to UK flood risks.

Total amounts insured for all eleven windstorm markets combined rose overall by 1.9% (1.1% at constant euro exchange rates), compared with values for 2012.

3.  UK’s New Regulators Take Over; FCA Now Responsible for Insurance Sector (Insurance Journal)

April 01 2013: The Financial Services Authority (FSA), which has been responsible for regulating the UK’s financial services industry since 1997, including insurance regulation, has ceased to exist.

It has been superseded by two new regulatory authorities. The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), will, as part of the Bank of England, oversee the financial health and stability of financial services firms.

The legislative changes have given the Bank of England direct supervisory authority for the entire banking system through its Financial Policy Committee (FPC), which can write the rules for PRA regulators, and for those of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

This second regulatory body is charged with protecting consumers, and accedes to the overall authority in that area previously exercised by the FSA in overseeing financial services products and practices, including those governing insurance.

Asia Pacific

4.  India Plans Reinsurance Pool to Cover Refiners Handling Iran Oil (Insurance Journal)

April 3 2013: India plans to set up a fund of up to INR20 billion (USD368.4 million) to back local insurers in offering cover to refiners who process Iranian crude, three government sources said, as sanctions discourage global reinsurers from taking on the risk.

The money will come from the premiums normally paid by insurers for reinsurance cover, said the sources, who requested anonymity.

India is Iran’s second-largest buyer, taking around a quarter of its oil exports worth around USD1 billion a month, while Tehran has slipped to seventh place among New Delhi’s suppliers from second in 2011/12.

Insurance problems threatened to dry up India’s purchases altogether as refiners could not get cover for installations processing the crude when policies came up for renewal.

Insurers rely on European reinsurance markets to hedge their risk, but EU sanctions have blocked European reinsurers from any involvement in covering shipments of Iranian oil, prompting India to set up limited emergency cover.

The first official said the proposal will be implemented after it gets the nod from the foreign affairs ministry.

Latin America

5.   Banco do Brasil May Raise $6 Billion With Insurance IPO (Bloomberg)

April 04 2013: Banco do Brasil SA, Latin America’s biggest lender by assets, may raise as much as BRL2.2 billion (USD6 billion) in an initial public offering for its insurance unit that would be the region’s largest since 2009.

Global

6.  Willis Re Sees Increased Capital Inflows as Threat to Reinsurers (Insurance Journal)

April 02 2013: A report from Willis Re, concludes that, many traditional reinsurers see the flow of capital coming into the reinsurance market as a direct threat to their existing portfolios.