Pool Re initiates consultation on reintegration of terrorism coverage for SMEs

Pool Re, the UK’s government-backed reinsurer for terrorism-related risks, has launched a market consultation aimed at exploring the possibility of including terrorism coverage as a standard feature in commercial property insurance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The consultation, which will run until April 2025, seeks input from Pool Re’s members, re/insurance intermediaries, policyholders, industry associations, and the broader insurance market.

The goal is to gather perspectives on how to address the existing protection gap and mitigate the significant impact on economic resilience resulting from the low uptake of terrorism insurance among SMEs.

Tom Clementi, Pool Re’s CEO, said: “Only 4% of SMEs in the UK currently have terrorism insurance cover, and many more than that will likely think they have cover. We are seeking to reduce these significant protection and expectation gaps, and thereby bolster the resilience of the UK economy, by offering our Members a more attractive pricing proposition in respect of their SME portfolios.

“Pool Re’s new, modernised reinsurance scheme, which launches on 1 April 2025, is designed to make it far simpler and more cost effective for Members to reincorporate terrorism cover into their SME property policies as a matter of course. If this can be achieved, it would return the market to the position before Pool Re was established in 1993, when terrorism cover was a standard feature of commercial property package wordings.

“The consultation we are launching today seeks views from far and wide on how best to achieve this outcome. We are reliant on market feedback to make sure that our proposals are sensible and deliver practical benefits for all, so I encourage you strongly to make your views heard.”

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