Beazley counts cost of Chilean earthquake

7th Apr 2010 07:14

Specialist insurer and reinsurer Beazley has announced its preliminary estimate of its exposure to claims arising from the Chilean earthquake and the European windstorm Xynthia.The company expects the losses from the earthquake to be in the range of $55m to $75m, though uncertainty still surrounds the full scale of the losses.Beazley's estimate is based on a loss for the whole market of between $5bn and $8bn. The group said its main exposures are in property reinsurance and commercial property insurance.In the event that the actual losses prove to be higher the group has reinsurance in place that would cover around half of any such increase. In addition, further reinsurance cover exists for any future catastrophes in 2010.The group's exposure to Xynthia is not expected to have a material effect on its results.