Market Overview
The January 1st, 2025 reinsurance renewals presented a diverse pricing landscape. However, with the devastating impact of Hurricanes Helen and Milton alongside severe California wildfires, experts at Moody’s predict a stabilization in property catastrophe reinsurance pricing at the forthcoming US-focused mid-year renewal events.
European Reinsurers’ Performance
Moody’s recent analysis sheds light on the experiences shared by several European carriers and reinsurance brokers during the 1.1 2025 renewals. This period typically sees the renewal of 40% to 60% of a global reinsurer’s portfolio, particularly across Europe. Among the major European reinsurers, all but Munich Re—whose shrinkage is attributable to strategic underwriting actions—reported premium growth as entities sought to capitalize on a market that remains appealing, albeit less so than during the 1.1 2024 renewals.
Pricing Dynamics
Overall pricing across these European reinsurers’ portfolios remained steady, with Hannover Re reporting a -2.1% decrease and Swiss Re noting a 2.8% overall increase. Notably, SCOR experienced its first pricing decrease in non-proportional business (-0.8%) since January 2017, according to Moody’s.
US Property Catastrophe Segment
Information from reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter reveals that the US property catastrophe reinsurance segment experienced a 6.2% rate decline at 1.1 2025, marking the first decrease since 2017. Moody’s notes that, generally, pricing remained stable in working layers—lower levels of reinsurance typically used for more frequent, smaller claims. However, rates were lower at the upper echelons of reinsurance programs, where capacity was abundant and pricing remains attractive on a risk-adjusted basis.
Focus on Mid-Year Renewals
The spotlight now turns to the mid-year reinsurance renewals, which are predominantly US-centric and follow a period of significant loss activity. Moody’s highlights, “The upcoming midyear 2025 reinsurance renewals, focusing on the US, will be influenced by substantial US catastrophe loss events over the past year, especially Hurricanes Helene and Milton, as well as the Los Angeles wildfires, which are expected to bolster reinsurance pricing for US exposures.”
Moody’s further elaborates, “Given that many US accounts due for renewal have incurred losses from Hurricanes Helene and Milton and the recent California wildfires, we anticipate a stabilization in US property catastrophe reinsurance pricing. This will be bolstered by the potential for considerable price hikes for accounts with significant losses over the past year.”
