In the aftermath of the recent natural disasters, the insurance industry is facing monumental losses. Between hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Maria and recent earthquakes in Mexico, the expected losses total in the ballpark of $100 billion. According to industry executive Jonathan Reiss, group chief financial officer at Hamilton Insurance Group, insurance prices will need to harden in order to mitigate the damage.

“There’s no question that rates are going to harden in some lines of business,” Reiss said during a speech at InsuranceERM’s Insurance Risk & Capital Conference. “Terms and conditions are going to tighten. You can call it what you will – a market turn, a hardening.”

Reiss says that the prolonged period or low-to-no interest rates and minimal natural disasters had previously kept prices low, not permitting much cushion for catastrophe. Combine this trend with the high frequency, high cost nature of the emerging hazards related to cybersecurity and climate change, and you have a recipe for disaster. As Reiss puts it, "This market cycle is forcing our industry to face some inconvenient truths."

Read the original article by Ryan Smith for Insurance Business Magazine, here.

Photo source here.