ABI CALLS FOR A STATE-SUPPORTED PANDEMIC INSURANCE SOLUTION

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has called for a debate about pandemic insurance, suggesting that government support would be needed as part of an industry solution. ABI director general Huw Evans said there needs to be a debate about how the global economy can be better insured against pandemics, adding that a return to the “status quo ante would seem undesirable”. The insurance industry has come under fire because most business interruption policies do not provide cover for infectious diseases or exclude Covid-19, according to Evans. “Providing widespread insurance cover against pandemics would be virtually impossible without state support because the amount of capital insurers would have to hold against the risk would result in completely unaffordable prices for customers,” he wrote on the ABI website.