Japan earthquake’s insurance claims may top US$1.1 billion

[TOKYO] Insurance claims from this week’s earthquake in Japan may top the 175 billion yen (US$1.1 billion) average for the country’s six previous major tremors, Bloomberg Intelligence estimated.

“We estimate industry-wide insurance claims could reach the low hundreds of billions of yen,” BI analyst Steven Lam said in a report.

Most of the exposure from the July 28 quake in Kumamoto is tied to commercial properties, as well as residential coverage under Japan’s earthquake insurance system, he said. 

Japan’s three major private insurers – Tokio Marine Holdings, Sompo Holdings and MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings – have budgeted a combined 365 billion yen for domestic natural catastrophe claims this fiscal year, more than twice their combined claims in the prior year.

Their share of the latest claims could amount to less than 1 per cent of adjusted profit after reinsurance recoveries and taxes, BI estimated. 

The magnitude 7.1 quake has killed 30 people, including some still being assessed for links to the quake. BLOOMBERG