Insurance stocks were deserted by investors this week as Cox's rising
11 September loss estimates damaged the sector.
The Lloyd's insurer, which last week announced its World Trade Centre cost ...
Insurance stocks were deserted by investors this week as Cox's rising
11 September loss estimates damaged the sector.
The Lloyd's insurer, which last week announced its World Trade Centre costs could be as high as £125m - double its original estimate - saw its stock crash by 27.4% in seven days.
Other insurers, notably those at Lloyd's, were dragged down as markets jittered.
Last week, Wellington lost 15.3%, Atrium lost 7.4%, Brit lost 7%, SVB fell 6.3% and Hiscox dropped 4.7%.
Analyst Chris Rathbone of Williams de Broë warned insurers should expect to suffer the same fate if another company were forced to increase its WTC estimates.
"In the UK market there are so few quoted general insurance entities. Whatever the similarities in their books of business - and quite frankly there aren't many - this will happen again.
"The immediate effect is that people will say if Cox has raised its estimate, making it quite a bit higher, that's obviously a possibility everywhere else."
Moody's Investors Services said it was looking at Cox's Syndicate 1208 with a view to a possible downgrade from its B (average) status.
It is not only the smaller operators that catch a cold when a big insurer sneezes.
Royal & SunAlliance continues to look under pressure this week amid fears of huge asbestos claims. Its estimated losses are £200m. On Tuesday morning its shares were trading at 365.5p.
