World's Best Insurance Companies

($000) Rank Group/company Direct premiums written (1) Market share (2) 1 California Earthquake Authority $573,960 20.0% 2 State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance 228,898 8.0 3 Zurich Insurance Group (3) 217,978 7.6 4 American International Group 150,861 5.3 5 Travelers Companies Inc. 143,022 5.0 6 GeoVera Insurance Holdings Ltd. 118,128 4.1 7 Liberty Mutual 100,496 3.5 8 ACE Ltd. 86,556 3.0 9 Swiss Re Ltd. 84,249 2.9 10 Chubb Corp. 58,990 2.1 (1) Before reinsurance transactions, includes state funds. (2) Based on U.S. total, includes territories. (3) Data for Farmers Insurance Group of Companies and Zurich Financial Group (which owns Farmers' management company) are reported separately by SNL Financial. Source: SNL Financial LC.

$ millions)         Insured losses (2)   Rank Date Location Overall losses when occurred Dollars when occurred In 2014 dollars (3) Fatalities 1 Jan. 17, 1994 California: Northridge, Los Angeles, San Fernando Valley, Ventura, Orange $44,000 $15,300 $24,440 61 2 Apr. 18, 1906 California: San Francisco, Santa Rosa, San Jose 524 180 4,300 (4) 3,000 3 Oct. 17, 1989 California: Loma Prieta, Santa Cruz, San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, Silicon Valley 10,000 960 1,830 68 4 Feb. 28, 2001 Washington: Olympia, Seattle, Tacoma; Oregon 2,000 300 400 1 5 Mar. 27-28, 1964 Alaska: Anchorage, Kodiak Island, Seward, Valdez, Portage, Whittier, Cordova, Homer, Seldovia 540 45 340 131 6 Feb. 9, 1971 California: San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles 553 35 200 65 7 Oct. 1, 1987 California: Los Angeles, Whittier 360 75 160 8 8 Aug. 24, 2014 California: Napa, Vallejo, Solano, Sonoma, American Canyon 700 150 150 1 9 Apr. 4, 2010 California: San Diego, Calexi...

$ millions)         Losses when occurred    Rank Date Event Location Overall  Insured (2) Fatalities 1 Mar. 11, 2011 Earthquake, tsunami Japan: Aomori, Chiba, Fukushima, lbaraki, lwate, Miyagi, Tochigi, Tokyo, Yamagata $210,000 $40,000 15,880 2 Feb. 22, 2011 Earthquake New Zealand: Canterbury, Christchurch, Lyttelton 24,000 16,500 185 3 Jan. 17, 1994 Earthquake USA: CA: Northridge, Los Angeles, San Femando Valley, Ventura, Orange 44,000 15,300 61 4 Feb. 27, 2010 Earthquake, tsunami Chile: Concepcion, Metropolitana, Rancagua, Talca, Temuco, Valparaiso 30,000 8,000 520 5 Sep. 4, 2010 Earthquake New Zealand: Canterbury, Christchurch, Avonside, Omihi, Timaru, Kaiapoi, Lyttelton 10,000 7,400 NA 6 Jan. 17, 1995 Earthquake Japan: Hyogo, Kobe, Osaka, Kyoto 100,000 3,000 6,430 7 Jun. 13, 2011 Earthquake New Zealand: Canterbury, Christchurch, Lyttelton 2,700 2,100 1 8 May 20 and May 29, 2012 Earthquake (series) Italy: Emilia-Romagn...

WORLD On Saturday April 25, 2015 a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal. Thousands of people were killed and many more injured. Aftershocks from the earthquake could persist for years according to  geologists . Only a small fraction of the economic losses are covered by insurance. Operating in one of the world’s poorest nations, Nepal’s insurers collected $102 million in premiums for non-life coverages in 2013, according to Axco Insurance Information Services. The deadliest earthquake in 2014 resulted from a magnitude 6.1 earthquake that hit Wenping in the Yunnan Province of China in August, with 731 people killed or missing. Economic losses totaled $5 billion, according to Swiss Re. There were a total of 15 catastrophic earthquakes in 2014, one of them in the United States, in South Napa, California. Insured losses from earthquakes and tsunamis were $313 million in 2014, higher than the $45 million in insured losses resulting from earthquakes in 2012 but far below 2011...