Stormy year for property insurers
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A string of storms, typhoons and earthquakes makes 2004 the most expensive year on record for property insurers, according to Swiss Re.
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The rising cost of homeowner's insurance, a simmering problem on Cape Cod for two years, is approaching the boiling point up and down the Massachusetts coast, according to insurance agents and state lawmakers.
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Florida homeowners are facing higher deductibles put in place to induce insurers to keep offering coverage there in the wake of  Hurricane Andrew more than a decade ago.
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Nowhere are insurance rates more severe than in Florida, where storms in recent years have added billions to the insurersÂ losses.
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U.S. property and casualty insurers are expected to pay $6.5 billion in losses from 23 catastrophes during 2007, much of it from California wildfires, according to ISO, a company that supplies statistical information for the industry.
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Some strategies for playing a possible insurance industry downturn.
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Munich Re, the world&#39;s largest reinsurer, lowered its target for 2004 earnings after the worst storm season in more than a century led to 550 million euros ($714 million) of damage claims.
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Insurers are disappearing from the market.
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The market has been shaken by uncertainty surrounding bond insurers and whether they will be able to handle large losses in the value of mortgage-backed bonds.
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The cost of insuring companies against   lawsuits from products such as faulty tires and asbestos has   dropped as much as 10 percent this year, the largest decline in   more than a decade, insurance specialists say.
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Hurricane Charley, the worst storm to hit the US in over a decade, will cost insurers $7.4bn (£4bn;5.9bn euros).
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Association of British Insurers warns that cover may not be offered to up to 1m homes built on floodplains
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A collapse of these bond insurers would have serious ripple effects.
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A good year ends with a bad quarter.
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Insurers could face their biggest-ever hurricane damages bill following a spate of storms in the Caribbean, an industry body says.
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With Hurricane Frances careering toward Florida and expected to hit as soon as today, insurers are facing the growing likelihood of getting smacked with two massive storms, back to back.
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After a tumultuous year marked by volatility, recession fears and credit woes, top advisers place their bets.