Do insurers have COVID-19 covered?

What are the implications of COVID-19 for the insurance industry? And what longer-term trends might the outbreak serve to usher in for the future.

The Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak that began in China towards the end of last year has now become a global pandemic. Although it now appears to be slowing in China, the spread of the disease is accelerating elsewhere, with the World Health Organization recently describing Europe as its current `epicentre’. Governments are reacting in ever more dramatic ways, closing borders, imposing lockdowns and travel restrictions, shutting schools and colleges, and banning mass gatherings such as sporting events.

The way the crisis will run from here cannot be known. But alongside the tragic human toll, it is already having considerable economic impacts, posing major challenges to the global supply chain and certain business sectors such as airlines, travel and leisure, and causing significant stock market volatility and some precipitous falls. Central banks including the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank (ECB) have responded by cutting interest rates. The ECB has expanded its quantitative easing program to make more liquidity available and the Fed could follow suit after the US joined many other countries in declaring a `national emergency’. read more