LONDON, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Zurich Insurance Group

said on Thursday that its exposure to Hurricanes Helene

and Milton, which recently wreaked havoc in the United States,

would be less than $360 million, as insurers face increasing

losses from natural catastrophes.

Analysts expect up to $55 billion in insured losses from the

two major hurricanes. In addition to hurricane damage, insurers

have seen a rise in losses from so-called "secondary perils"

such as storms, hail, wildfires and floods in recent years,

which they attribute partly to climate change.

"We need to shift the attention from just focusing on

hurricanes to those secondary perils that are starting to have

an ever increasing impact on financial results but also on

society," said Zurich Chief Financial Officer Claudia Cordioli.

Europe's fifth-largest insurer said its third-quarter

results included an estimated pre-tax loss for Hurricane Helene

of $160 million. It expects preliminary fourth-quarter pre-tax

losses due to Hurricane Milton to touch below $200 million.

Gross written premiums at Zurich's property and casualty

business rose 4% in the first nine months of 2024, due to

increasing rates in its commercial insurance and retail

segments. Rates rose 5%.

Insurance premiums have been rising in the past few years in

response to inflation and to losses from the COVID-19 pandemic,

wars and natural catastrophes.

Global commercial insurance rates fell 1% in the third

quarter, the first quarterly decline in seven years, according

to broker Marsh.

However, reinsurers, who insure the insurers, are no longer

expecting prices to flatten at the key Jan. 1 renewal season due

to recent disasters, Cordioli said on a media call.

Separately, Chief Executive Mario Greco said that Zurich has

had no contact with Baloise and has no plans to make an

offer for the Swiss insurer, denying a Bloomberg report on

Wednesday that Zurich was among insurers considering a bid.

Zurich will present fresh three-year financial targets on

Nov. 21, after the insurer reiterated on Thursday that it was on

track to exceed all its current targets. Its shares rose 0.9%.

(Additional reporting by Bartosz Dabrowski; Editing by Rachel

More, Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Alexander Smith)