Japan's three major nonlife insurance companies said Tuesday that they need to pay 982 billion yen (9 billion U.S. dollars) in total after the recent typhoons and other natural disasters, Trend reports citing Xinhua.
MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings Inc. said it expects to pay about 400 billion yen (3.67 billion dollars), while Sompo Holdings Inc. claimed its expectations stood at 322 billion yen (2.95 billion dollars) and 260 billion yen (2.38 billion dollars) was projected by Tokio Marine Holdings Inc.
Due to increasing payouts, Sompo Holdings downgraded its net profit forecast for its business year to 118 billion yen (1.08 billion dollars) from the earlier 168 billion yen (1.54 billion dollars). The other two firms maintained their projections.
The total payout figure for fiscal 2019, which is to end next March, may expand to be near the record 1.66 trillion yen (15.21 billion dollars) set in the previous year as many policyholders have not made their claims yet.
Given the recent rise in claims related to natural disasters, major nonlife insurers raised premiums by 6 percent to 7 percent on average last month.
Japan was widely affected by Typhoon Faxai in September and Typhoon Hagibis in October, with large swaths of land and houses flooded due to rising rivers in the heavy rain, which also triggered landslides and blackouts.
As of Nov. 5, the number of claims and inquiries about insurance payouts of the two typhoons stood at 608,279, the General Insurance Association of Japan said.