Debating diversity; the industry’s turn to learn
It’s been a big week for world news. With the Black Lives Matter movement rightfully gaining further traction, the furore over President Trump’s handling of … well everything, and news of a massive 20% reduction in GDP in the UK, the insurance industry wasn’t at the forefront of the press’s minds.
However there have been some interesting stories that caught our eye this week.
Black Lives Matter protests spark industry diversity debates
The ongoing Black Lives Matter protests across the world have caused a lot of organisations to refocus on their commitment to diversity, including Lloyd’s which this week committed to measures to combat “systematic and structural racism” that exists in society, according to an article in the Insurance Insider.
In an announcement, Lloyd’s announced a number of new initiatives to build a more inclusive culture and increase understanding of the challenges BAME people face.
These measures will include: programmes to attract and retain BAME talent, education and research into the experiences of BAME professionals to build awareness and financial support to charities and organisations supporting BAME groups all as part of a plan for long term action.
Our industry hasn’t historically been the most inclusive for people of minority groups, as pointed out by an article in Insurance Times this week. Maxine Goddard, head of external partnerships at the Insurance Cultural Awareness Network (iCAN) was quoted as saying that the BAME community often feels like “fish out of water” when they enter the industry, and the statistics bear this out, with ABI data showing that in 2019, only 16% of the insurance workforce were BAME.
In my view, we must encourage diversity in the make-up of our industry to ensure we are fully representative of the communities we serve, and for an industry “famed” for being ‘pale, male and stale’, more must be done to foster a more inclusive and diverse workforce.
Movement in the FCA BI test case
This Wednesday, the FCA published a series of documents on its website relating to the upcoming Business Interruption test case. These included the particulars of claim, the questions for determination by the court and a representative sample of policy wordings from 8 insurers. The case will essentially rule whether or not they were right to deny BI claims as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak and the UK Government’s subsequent actions. The case is expected in the High Court on 20 July and will no doubt be keenly followed by the industry; watch this space for more updates.
Upturn in rates
Another perhaps slightly more predictable outcome of the global pandemic has been rate rises for the catastrophe reinsurance market, notably in the hurricane-exposed US property market. According to Insurance Day this week, 1 June renewals have seen a hardening of US catastrophe covers such Florida property cat reinsurance.
The publication reported a number of senior market commentators putting rises of between 25% and 45% down to a combination of factors, aside from COVID-19, including deteriorating claims from 2017’s Cat 5 Hurricane Irma. A reminder for us all that we are now 12 days into Hurricane Season (which Beach & Associates suggested this week will be more active than usual, following other modelling agencies in its prediction.)
With thanks this week to Insurance Insider, Insurance Times and Insurance Day