It would appear that QBE Insurance (ASX: QBE) is exposed to the horrific train accident in Spain which claimed over 75 lives. While the accident is unlikely to warrant the global insurer updating the market on any potential expected losses, a report by the Australian Financial Review has confirmed that QBE provides third-party liability cover to Spain's state-owned rail network Renfe.
The newspaper also reported that QBE's exposure to any single event is capped at $54 million with re-insurance policies in place to cover any higher claims.
As a property and casualty insurer, occasional small and large catastrophic events are part and parcel of its operations. Even so, the market is still inclined to discount the share price when news of a potential large claim arises, even though it may be well within the overall allowances. At 3:30pm the news had sent QBE's shares down 0.73% while the S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) was trading up .04%.
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Motley Fool contributor Tim McArthur owns shares in QBE Insurance.
