Insurance
Home›Insurance›Reinsurance›International reinsurers likely take much of Nepal fla…
International reinsurers likely take much of Nepal flash flood insured losses
AM Best expects overall insured losses to be modest versus economic losses because Nepal has among the lowest non-life insurance penetration in Asia.
AM Best said international reinsurers are expected to absorb a significant share of insured losses from Nepal’s flash floods, citing the country’s non-life insurance market’s reliance on reinsurance capacity to underwrite catastrophe risks.
The insurer rating firm pointed to floods triggered on 26 August 2026 when a Himalayan glacier and rock collapse near the Nepal-China border caused flash flooding along about a 70-kilometre stretch of the Trishuli River, damaging areas across the Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts.
AM Best said insured losses are expected to remain significantly lower than economic losses due to low insurance penetration, even though the disaster is expected to drive multi-line economic losses, particularly commercial.
It added that critical infrastructure, including hydropower facilities and property and engineering projects, sustained significant structural damage, and that commercial lines may produce more material losses for individual carriers and their reinsurance counterparties, while motor and marine cargo exposure linked to cross-border trade could see moderate claims as the Gyirong Port crossing remains inoperable.