Pool Re publishes inaugural Terrorism Frequency Report providing Members with expert view on the terrorist threat
Pool Re, the UK’s terrorism reinsurance pool, today announced the publication of the Terrorism Frequency Report, a quarterly view of the contemporary threat, produced by the Scheme’s Terrorism Risk and Analysis Centre (TRAC). This resource will provide Pool Re Members and stakeholders with a record of recent terrorist attacks, detailing their severity and frequency, as well as analysis and views from the TRAC team and former members of the security services. Key topics and trends discussed in the first report include:
- The rising threat from the ‘Virtual Caliphate’, online radicalisation, cyber-attacks, and the implications for UK security and business
- The potential for closer collaboration between Al Qaeda and Daesh and how a merger could alter the UK’s threat landscape
- Whether the use of improvised explosive devices in the Manchester and Parsons Green attacks could herald a step change in the frequency and method of terrorist attacks
Julian Enoizi, Chief Executive of Pool Re said, “I am pleased to announce the launch of our new Terrorism Frequency Report. The terrorism risk landscape is changing rapidly. While reports on individual terrorism events are readily available, expert analysis of the methodologies used and trends within this landscape are scattered and often inaccessible to those outside the security services. Our Terrorism Frequency Report aims to provide our Members and stakeholders with up-to-date analysis that can inform their decision making via an accessible resource detailing the frequency and severity of attacks. It also identifies key trends and themes designed to inform and thereby enable the terrorism (re)insurance market to assume more risk and, in so doing, remove it from the Government’s balance sheet. To remain relevant, our Scheme must continue to evolve. This is the latest example of our efforts to do so. We will continue to strengthen the Scheme and to furnish our Members with the tools and resources to allow them to better enhance the UK’s resilience.”
The inaugural Terrorism Frequency Report is available here – https://www.poolre.co.uk/quarterly-terrorism-frequency-report-february-2018/
ENDS
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About Pool Re
The Pool Re scheme was set up in 1993 by the insurance industry in cooperation with the UK Government in the wake of the IRA bombing campaign on the UK Mainland with the goal of protecting the economy. Pool Re is a mutual reinsurer whose Members comprise the vast majority of insurers and Lloyd’s Syndicates which offer commercial property insurance in the Great Britain, with membership of the scheme affording them a guarantee which ensures that they can provide cover for losses resulting from acts of terrorism, regardless of the scale of the claims.
The scheme, which is recognised as a leading example of public/private partnership, is owned by its Members but is underpinned by a HM Treasury commitment to support Pool Re if ever it has insufficient funds to pay a legitimate claim. Pool Re pays a fee to Government for this guarantee and would repay the money over time if it ever used this facility.
However, in the event of a loss resulting from an act of terrorism, each Member 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 £6.2billion. These reserves have been accumulated by the Members of Pool Re since its inception. It is only in the event that these reserves are exhausted that Pool Re would require Government support.
The Pool Re scheme has dealt with some 16 separate terrorism events paying losses amounting to more than £600m.
Pool Re is also a founding member of the International Forum of Terrorism Risk (Re) Insurance Pools (IFTRIP). Established in 2016, IFTRIP is aimed at fostering closer ties and allowing for greater collaboration between the world’s terrorism (re)insurance entities. IFTRIP is comprised of national terrorism reinsurance pools from twelve countries.