Standard & Poor's (S&P) has warned that an avian flu pandemic would cause losses in nearly all insurance sectors: health, commercial insurance, life, life and property reinsurance, and retrocession.
S&P said that the industry's worst-case models for losses predicted overall worldwide losses of between $71.3bn and $200bn.
It said that if the avian flu does not achieve human-to-human transmission, most of the losses will be restricted to restaurants and poultry farmers worldwide.
However, it added that if the virus mutates into a human-to-human disease, every insurer might be at risk.
It said that a pandemic's effects could last for several months, and insurers, especially those with geographic concentrations in such areas, might find themselves exposed to an aggregation of losses not fully protected by reinsurance.
Hosted by comedian and actor Tom Allen, 34 Gold, 23 Silver and 22 Bronze awards were handed out across an amazing 34 categories recognising brilliance and innovation right across the breadth of UK general insurance.
