A senior industry executive has predicted that Hurricane Katrina could have the same effect on the insurance industry as the World Trade Center attacks in 2001.
Ron Pressman, chief executive of GE Insurance Solutions, the insurance unit of the giant General Electric, said at the Monte Carlo Rendezvous: "I think the impact of Katrina could be on the same level as 9/11."
"9/11 was an industry-changing event, as it focused the industry's – and arguably the world's – attention on the impact that terrorism could have and exactly how much damage could be done.
"It also focused attention on the poor underwriting that occurred in the late 1990s and what needed to be done to change that."
Pressman said his company would probably issue an estimate of its claims to Katrina in mid-October. It is basing its assumptions on an insured loss estimate toward the upper end of experts' assessments.
"We are looking at this event in the range of $40bn to $50bn," he added.
