Social Claims Inflation: The Casualty Black Hole

The global insurance industry faces a new threat: 12 angry men and women on a mission to achieve “social justice.”

The poster for the seminal jury movie 12 Angry Men, which starred Henry Fonda, proclaimed at the time it came out at theatres: “Life is in their hands, death is on their minds!”. There is no doubt that in 2020, modern day jurors are out for corporate blood and that spells bad news for their insurers.

Directors and Officers, senior executives, risk managers and insurers are increasingly conscious of the threat posed by juries, particularly in the U.S. awarding generous sums to plaintiffs, ranging from opioid overdoses to tainted talc. As a result, insurance companies with their perceived deep pockets are left to pick up the bill.

“Social inflation” is leading to bigger pay-outs, which in turn is helping to drive claims inflation. It is a hot topic for insurers and reinsurers who, already facing a squeeze in profits, now fear they will being sucked into a casualty black hole that is difficult to model and quantify on current realistic disaster scenario event horizon technology.

We explore this topic in our claims inflation casualty white paper.


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Post Date: 03/06/2020

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