Pool Re Forms Specialist Unit to Help U.K. Insurers Build Terrorism Risk Resilience

Pool Re, Britain’s government-backed terrorism reinsurer, has launched of Pool Re “Solutions,” a specialist unit created to support its member insurers and their policyholders by sharing the understanding and partnerships it has established over 25 years of reinsuring terrorism risk.

Pool Re Solutions is comprised of three core pillars:

• The Risk Awareness team will continue to provide analysis, intelligence and expertise on all aspects of the terrorism threat, using a broad range of data from sources such as the Global Terrorism Database, a comprehensive public record of terrorist attacks available.
• The Risk Modelling team will advance their work in developing sophisticated terrorism modelling tools and techniques that can underpin better pricing and greater deployment of capacity into terrorism re/insurance.
• The Risk Management team, a key facilitator of terrorism risk management information and techniques, will link government agencies, academia, risk professionals and the insurance industry to ensure knowledge and best practice is widely recognized and shared.

“Pool Re has been working hard since 2015 on two strategic priorities. First, to increase the resilience of the U.K. economy to acts of terrorism. Second, to grow the industry’s understanding of terrorism risk, and consequently its ability to price, manage and package an important aspect of the country’s exposure,” said Julian Enoizi, Pool Re CEO.

“I believe Pool Re Solutions will represent a turning point in our industry’s relationship with terrorism risk and allow these two aims to truly converge. Ultimately, the more policies that are bought, the stronger the resilience of the economy to acts of terrorism, and the more the insurance industry is able to grow and innovate.

“As the terrorism threat continues to change and become more complex, there has emerged a corresponding need for Pool Re to support its members with an equally dynamic set of underwriting tools, technical services, training, and insight, to support the traditional provision of reinsurance cover. I am confident that Solutions will allow us to meaningfully address the information and demand gaps currently presenting challenges such as underinsurance in the SME sector, and enable Pool Re to continue to bridge and harness the best from both of their public and private partners.”

About Pool Re

Formed in 1993 by the insurance industry in the wake of the Irish Republic Army’s bombing campaign on the UK mainland, Pool Re is a mutual whose member insurers comprise insurers and Lloyd’s Syndicates which offer commercial property insurance in Great Britain. It is owned by its members and is underpinned by an HM Treasury commitment to support the company if it has insufficient funds to pay a legitimate claim. In return for that commitment, Pool Re pays a premium to government and in addition, were it ever to use this support, it would repay the money over time from future premium receipts.

In the event of a loss resulting from an act of terrorism, each member cedent must first pay losses up to a threshold which is determined individually for that insurer. When losses exceed that threshold, the insurer can claim upon Pool Re’s reserves, which now stand at approximately £6.4 billion.

Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Carriers Reinsurance Market