An interesting new paper from Marsh Co. indicates the possible need to review loss estimations after the large no. of high impact disasters that occurred worldwide during 2011. A short account of the report was provided by Homeland Security Wire on April 17: Scale of 2011 disasters challenged established thinking on nature of risk. Some excerpts follow:

New paper says that the scale of the catastrophes experienced in 2011 exceeded previous loss-modeling predictions and has challenged established thinking on the nature of risk; the paper says that, post-2011, companies need to re-examine their risk management strategies and introduce new methodologies to strengthen their operational and financial resilience

Following the severe catastrophes experienced around the world in 2011, organizations now have an opportunity to learn lessons from these events and reduce the adverse impact of future incidents on their balance sheets.

These are the conclusions of a new paper published the other day by Marsh. The paper says that the scale of the catastrophes experienced in 2011 exceeded previous loss-modeling predictions and has challenged established thinking on the nature of risk. The paper says that, post-2011, companies need to re-examine their risk management strategies and introduce new methodologies to strengthen their operational and financial resilience.

… Marsh identifies five major risk and insurance topics arising from events of 2011, namely denial of access; strike, riot, civil commotion or terrorism; the differences between flood and storm damage; contingent business interruption; and 72-hour insurance notification clauses. According to Marsh, the catastrophe events of 2011 events have raised concerns around the suitability of standard denial of access cover, which is typically only for short-term incidents.

A copy of the full report (12 pp.)  is available from Marsh.com, but you have to create a login and request it.