The boss of the UK’s largest insurance broker has warned the industry will go bust if it is forced to cover the cost of claims arising from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
David Howden, the boss of Howden Group, said the sector was ‘not designed’ to be a ‘backstop’ for the costs of war and if insurers paid out claims ‘we’d all go bankrupt.’
Warning: ‘War has never been something that insurance has been there to cover’
The comments came as the owners of around 500 commercial aircraft that were seized by Russia shortly after the outbreak of war prepared to sue several Lloyd’s of London insurers after they refused to pay out around £8billion in claims.
Howden said their decision not to pay up was legitimate.
‘Ultimately, war has never been something that insurance has been there to cover,’ he told The Sunday Telegraph.
He added that there was ‘not enough capital in the insurance market’ to cover the impact of the conflict and if policies were expanded the Government would need to bail out bankrupt insurers.
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