Pool Re urges re/insurers to help closing terrorism 'information gap'

Re/insurers need to work with governments and the security services to close the 'information gap' in the market around terrorism and its constantly changing threat, claimed Pool Re, the UK government-backed terrorism insurer, in its latest report on the subject.

The report, entitled 'Terrorism Threat & Mitigation Report August-December 2016', was unveiled at a briefing in London. It stresses the various potential threats that Pool Re considers to be relevant for UK and European re/insurers.

Introducing the report Ed Butler, head of risk analysis at Pool Re, pointed out that the market’s perception of terrorism had shifted in focus, adding that it had been exactly 25 years to the day since the Irish Republican Army (IRA) attacked 10 Downing Street with mortars in a bid to kill then Prime Minister John Major as he met with the Cabinet.

According to Pool Re, the primary threat now comes in the form of Islamic extremism, in the form of attacks organised or inspired by Al Qaeda (AQ), Daesh (also known as Islamic State or ISIS), with the report mentioning the attacks mounted in their name in Berlin and Istanbul at the end of 2016.

Butler said that reports of the impending collapse of AQ in 2014 had been premature and that it had regrouped in the face of changing events such as the ongoing war in Yemen, where AQ has been extremely active. “AQ is not dead,” he said. “Its capacity to attack remains strong and sophisticated.”

Butler added that although Daesh was facing military defeat on the ground in Iraq and Syria, it could not be defeated by conventional means. “There is no such thing as a post-Daesh world,” he said at the briefing. “We are increasingly looking at a virtual Caliphate, as it moves its methods and teachings online and onto the so-called dark web.”

According to the Pool Re report, insurers need to be aware of the possibilities of various forms of attacks, with small-scale non-firearm attacks (knives, etc) in famous public places being most likely, and more widespread but more lethal attacks (explosives, dirty bombs, biological weapons such as ricin) being less likely – but still possible.

Pool Re also stressed that more attention needs to be paid to the possibility of drone attacks, with both AQ and Daesh using these devices in more and more sophisticated ways.

However, the report also stresses that the threat of left or right wing domestic terrorists cannot be overlooked and that the recent political upheaval in many countries has created a volatile situation that might be exploited by those looking to disrupt the political situation still further.

In addition, Pool Re pointed out that there are still dissident groups that split away from IRA as a result of the Peace Process in Northern Ireland that are still active and which pose a potential threat in terms of attacks. As a result, re/insurers cannot dismiss the threat of domestic attacks in Northern Ireland and the UK.

The Pool Re report concluded: “As terrorist tactics continue to evolve, using a combination of both conventional and unconventional methodologies, so must the insurance sector further adapt to these novel ways and means by providing appropriate products to their insureds. Pool Re continues to work closely with all its strategic partners – government, its Members, academia, its regulators, the reinsurance market and business – focusing on improving intelligence-led risk mitigation and resilience measures.”

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