“The last 12 months have seen two of the most significant enhancements to Pool Re’s cover since it was established.”
Those were the words of chief executive Julian Enoizi in the latest Terrorism Threat & Mitigation Report published by the UK’s terrorism reinsurance pool. He noted where the state-backed reinsurer now stands, 25 years after its birth.
“New cover for physical damage caused by an act of cyber terrorism, combined with incoming legislation to allow the pool to cover non-damage business interruption (NDBI), together represent a new global standard of terrorism cover,” said Enoizi.
“Moreover, we have grown our international retrocession programme, are exploring a ground-breaking terror catastrophe bond placement, and continue to support our members, their policyholders, and the government through a variety of risk mitigation initiatives.”
He added that Pool Re is committed to developing a scheme which goes beyond providing mere solvency to its member insurers. The goal is to offer a dynamic, comprehensive ecosystem for financing and managing terrorism risk.
Meanwhile 2018 has been described as a transformative year for Pool Re.
“Following our landmark cyber extension in March, the inclusion of cover for NDBI, which subject to parliamentary approval will be introduced in January 2019, will be an essential and timely evolution of the protection our members will be able to market to businesses across the country,” noted the CEO.
“It will be particularly attractive to the presently poorly penetrated SME market which can be vulnerable to disproportionate business interruption in the wake of an atrocity.”
At present Pool Re can cover losses from terrorism only if there is physical damage to a policyholder’s premises. It has worked with government for a change to the originating legislation, the Reinsurance (Acts of Terrorism) Act 1993.
Alongside its report on this year’s key terrorist events and developments, Pool Re also released new quantitative research into more than 4,300 global terrorist attacks since 2014.
