Rail industry underwriters may revise liability pricing ahead of the 1 April renewal date in light of the Cumbrian train crash.

Questions about risk manage-ment and health and safety have been raised following the tragedy, which killed an 84-year-old woman last Friday evening.

In an interim report, the Rail Accident Investigation Branch said the likely cause was the failure of a set of points on the line.

Brian Sullivan, European transportation practice leader at Marsh, said: "The insurance industry will need to understand exactly what went wrong and draw its conclusions, and decide whether steps need to be put in place to prevent a re-occurrence.

"But it will have to make a fairly quick decision as a lot of clients in the UK rail industry will want to renew on 1 April."

Sullivan added: "I would not have thought that conditions will change [as a result of the train crash], but insurers will have to take a view on whether to look at their pricing."

It is understood that Network Rail has an established captive to underwrite liabilities.

Royal & SunAlliance confirmed that it insured the rolling stock for Virgin Trains.

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