The concerns of the UK risk managers reflect those of the insurance industry. There is uncertainty about the future; but the problems of the past are a long way from being resolved.
UK corporates and their insurers are still struggling with historic liabilities, arising from asbestos exposure and other activities from the UK’s industrial past. The current test cases about how employers’ liability policies are triggered by asbestos claims create uncertainty about how the insurance market should respond to claims likely to amount to billions of pounds. And solvent schemes remain a hot topic, especially for the risk managers of US corporations. More solvent schemes are in the pipeline.
Looking to the future, there are concerns about how D&O exposures will be adversely affected by the new Companies Act. This can be put into a wider context: risk managers and insurers alike are expecting the litigation climate in the UK and across the rest of Europe to worsen.
They are bracing themselves for more shareholder litigation and product liability claims and fear a rise in multi-national litigation. Risk managers are focussing on the cover their carriers can provide and on the willingness of those carriers to pay claims.
