The bill facing Bermuda's insurers has gone up to between $1.505 and $1.685 billion after the attacks on the United States last Tuesday and is expected to continue to rise as businesses calculate their exposure.

On Friday, Partner Re said that its claims for the terrorist attacks were expected to be for between $350 million and $400 million, IPC Re predicted $75 million, PXRE between $30 and $35 million and Trenwick, which owns La Salle Re, between $50 and $75 million.

This adds to the bills faced by Bermuda insurance giants ACE Ltd. and XL Capital Ltd. who will between them bear more than $1 billion of the claims from the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, both companies announced on Thursday.

Other Bermuda insurers and reinsurers are expected to release their exposure to claims in the coming week.

The total of the burden of insurance claims is now more than one tenth of the estimated total cost of the US disasters, which Moody's credit rating agency estimated at $15 billion.

The ACE group, which has a broad portfolio in both reinsurance and insurance, said its third-quarter earnings would be cut by about $400 million due to claims from the destruction of New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

XL Capital issued a statement that it expected claims to be between $600 and $700 million, according to their latest estimates.

Both companies have said that they were well-placed to be able to pay all the claims and both said they were in good financial positions.

Now Partner Re has put a figure to possible losses which the industry has been busy estimating since the first news of the disaster was heard.

Albert Benchimol, chief financial officer of Partner Re said: "Information is still incomplete, but based on our market share and treaty exposures to this marketplace, we expect damage claims to be from property, casualty and aviation programmes written by our operation in the United States and Bermuda.

"In view of disruptions experienced by brokers and our clients, Partner Re's preliminary estimate is based on our analysis of treaty language, as well as the results of our catastrophe models and industry loss estimates. We will continue to refine our loss estimate as reliable information in received."

RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd., a provider of reinsurance and insurance whose principal product is property catastrophe reinsurance, did not release figures, but said they would still turn a profit for the third quarter.

James N Stanard, chairman, president and chief executive officer of RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd., said: "We extend our sympathy to all who were affected by this week's unprecedented tragedy."

But the company said it expects its share of losses from this week's attacks to be significantly smaller than would be indicated by its catastrophe reinsurance market share.

It said this was due to the company having relatively limited exposure to commercial accounts in New York, and minimal exposure to aviation, workers compensation, life and liability reinsurance.

And it said based on its preliminary analysis, it believes that it will still report a profit for the third quarter, although it is not yet in a position to comment on performance relative to Wall Street expectations for the quarter.

IPC Holdings, Ltd. on Friday estimated its loss from the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States at $75 million.

The company stated that this preliminary estimate is based on a review of those property catastrophe contracts in its portfolio which it believes are likely to be impacted by claims arising from these events and will be revised as loss information continues to develop.

IPC's underwriting guidelines limit the amount of liability that can be accepted on any one programme and also impose maximum limits that can be exposed in any one geographic zone.

Board chairman Joseph Johnson, who is also the senior AIG executive in Bermuda, stated: "AIG has confidence in the underwriting skills within IPC and that IPC's strong financial condition will enable it to fulfil all of its obligations arising from this horrific tragedy brought about by cowardly acts of terrorism.

"On behalf of its entire staff, the company extends its sympathy to all those who have been affected by this tragedy."

IPC Holdings, Ltd., through its wholly-owned subsidiary IPCRe Limited, provides property catastrophe reinsurance and, to a limited extent, marine, aviation, property-per-risk excess and other short-tail property reinsurance on a world-wide basis.

PXRE Group Ltd. said that based on a preliminary projection, the net loss these events in New York and Washington is expected to be in the range of $30 million to $35 million.

But it said further information may affect this indication adding that it anticipates that it will take some time for a more accurate assessment of the events, given the unprecedented nature of this tragedy.

PXRE reassured its customers and investors that, despite the magnitude and industry-wide nature of the potential losses arising from this disaster, the company does not expect it to affect the fundamental financial soundness of PXRE or impair its ability to pay claims in the same timely manner as in the past.

The expected loss will be recognised during the third quarter and, when combined with PXRE's other business, will result in a loss of less than ten percent of the company's capital base, which is within its risk limits for a loss of this magnitude.

PXRE is based in Bermuda and has operations principally in Bermuda, Barbados, the United States, and Europe and provides reinsurance products and services to a world-wide market place.

The company primarily emphasises commercial and personal property reinsurance risks and also provides marine and aerospace reinsurance products and services.

Trenwick Group Ltd., which owns La Salle Re, gave a preliminary estimate of losses stemming from the acts of terrorism of approximately $50 million to $75 million, net of reinsurance recoveries.

On an after-tax basis, the estimated loss represents a potential $1.30 to $2.00 reduction of Trenwick's book value per share, which was $16.65 at June 30, 2001 and a potential five percent to seven percent reduction of Trenwick's consolidated statutory surplus, which was $986 million at June 30, 2001.

The bulk of the estimated losses arose from catastrophe reinsurance underwritten by LaSalle Re Limited, while approximately $4 million of the estimated pre-tax net losses arose from airline liability and hull underwritten by Chartwell Managing Agents, Trenwick's managing agency at Lloyd's.

Trenwick believes it does not have any material life or accident and health insurance or reinsurance exposures to this event.

But the company added that because of the scope and uniqueness of these events, standard loss modelling and assessment methodologies have limited relevance.

James F Billett, Jr, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Trenwick said: "We have the financial strength to absorb our share of the significant losses associated with this unprecedented tragedy and we will continue to participate vigorously in those reinsurance and insurance markets in which we underwrite."

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