Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) has promoted Megan Howe to the role of head of claims for Australasia, broadening her responsibilities across the region.
Mark Lingafelter, president of BHSI Australasia, said Howe has been a key figure in the company’s claims operations.
“Megan’s technical expertise and commitment to excellent service reflect our drive to deliver a superior and differentiated offering. Megan’s leadership has really brought to life our ‘claims is our product’ commitment to our customers and brokers,” he said.
Howe will report to Lingafelter and Dave Crowe, BHSI’s chief claims officer, as she takes on her new role.
Having joined BHSI in 2015 as head of claims for New Zealand, Howe later assumed oversight of claims for the company’s global program business in 2021. She has been a member of the Australasia leadership team since 2019.
Before working at BHSI, she practiced law for 20 years, focusing on insurance defence, coverage disputes, and regulatory issues. She is based in Auckland.
The appointment comes at a time when the insurance industry in Australia is processing a significant volume of claims following ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
According to the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA), insurers have received 63,600 claims as of March 17, with an additional 10,000 lodged over the weekend. The majority of claims relate to damage from wind and water, as well as food spoilage caused by power outages.
Insurance providers continue to operate in impacted communities, offering in-person assistance as recovery efforts progress.
BHSI’s parent company, Berkshire Hathaway, recently disclosed a 71% rise in operating earnings for the fourth quarter of 2024, supported by higher interest rates and improved insurance performance.
For the three-month period ending in December, the company’s operating earnings reached US$14.5 billion. Income from insurance investments increased by 48% to US$4.1 billion, while insurance underwriting earnings rose to US$3.4 billion.
Berkshire’s auto insurance subsidiary, GEICO, contributed to this growth, with its pretax underwriting profit more than doubling to US$7.8 billion in 2024. The insurer added new customers in the second half of the year, reversing a prior decline in policy growth. The company’s reinsurance segment also reported a 44% increase in pretax underwriting earnings over the past year.
However, the company estimated that it faced approximately US$1.3 billion in pretax losses due to wildfires in Los Angeles earlier in 2024.
