White Mountains, Montpelier Re Hurricane Charley Loss Estimates May Top $100 Million

In separate announcements Bermuda’s White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd. and its insurance operation, Montpelier Re Holdings Ltd., released estimates of losses the companies may suffer as a result of claims from Hurricane Charley.

White Mountains said its preliminary estimates indicate that its total pre-tax net losses on its insurance and reinsurance operations (not including Montpelier Re or Olympus Re) would be less than $45 million.

Montpelier Re’s bulletin indicated that based on current information “the estimated net negative impact of losses from Hurricane Charley on the Company’s results for the third quarter of 2004 is expected to be in the range of $48 million – 63 million.”

Montpelier’s Chairman, President and CEO Anthony Taylor cautioned that the Company had received only a very limited number of actual loss advices from clients so soon after the event. Accordingly the range was based on industry loss estimates, output from industry and proprietary models and a review of in-force contracts. The actual impact of losses from the hurricane on the Company’s third quarter results might therefore vary materially from the estimate.