General Insurance Article - Marsh outlines lessons learnt from catastrophic year


 Following the exceptionally severe and prolific catastrophes experienced globally in 2011, organisations now have an opportunity to learn lessons from these events and reduce the adverse impact of future incidents on their balance sheets.

 According to a new paper published by Marsh, the scale of the catastrophes experienced in 2011 exceeded previous loss-modelling predictions and has challenged established thinking on the nature of risk. The paper says that, post-2011, companies need to re-examine their risk management strategies and introduce new methodologies to strengthen their operational and financial resilience.

 In its paper, Lessons Learned from the Catastrophes of 2011, Marsh identifies five major risk and insurance topics arising from events of 2011, namely denial of access; strike, riot, civil commotion or terrorism; the differences between flood and storm damage; contingent business interruption; and 72-hour insurance notification clauses.

 According to Marsh, the catastrophe events of 2011 events have raised concerns around the suitability of standard denial of access cover, which is typically only for short-term incidents. Marsh also highlights the growing importance to businesses of contingent business interruption (CBI) insurance, especially in the wake of supply chain failures following the Japanese earthquake/tsunami and Thailand floods.

 David Pigot, chairman of Marsh’s Global Claims Practice, comments “While the risks associated with the events of 2011 were largely understood, their sheer scale and complexity, combined with the devastation they caused, were unprecedented. These events not only exposed weaknesses in the risk strategies of many organisations worldwide, they also challenged the insurance industry to develop policy wordings that are more responsive to this rapidly evolving risk landscape.

 Organisations need to explore every necessary measure to protect their people, physical assets and balance sheets. By learning the lessons from past events, companies can reduce the likelihood and impact of future losses and minimise their insurance claims.

 While not all damage and economic losses are insured, there has still been a significant insurance and risk management response to the events of 2011. In general, the insurance industry has demonstrated its value and played its role in the process of regeneration for affected clients and communities.”

Back to Index


Similar News to this Story

Sleighing the risks by giving Santa the insurance he needs
While you might be the most magical employer in the world, we know that even you aren’t immune to the risks of running a global delivery service! From
Diversity improving in insurance and long term savings
Key figures from the Association of British Insurers’ latest Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) data collection highlight the work of insurers and
Almost a third of homeowners have been victims of burglaries
Research commissioned by Co-op Insurance reveals that almost one in three (29%) homeowners have been the victims of theft from their home. The member-

Site Search

Exact   Any  

Latest Actuarial Jobs

Actuarial Login

Email
Password
 Jobseeker    Client
Reminder Logon

APA Sponsors

Actuarial Jobs & News Feeds

Jobs RSS News RSS

WikiActuary

Be the first to contribute to our definitive actuarial reference forum. Built by actuaries for actuaries.