Chubb increases insurance capacity for terrorism, political risk

Chubb Limited announced Monday it will offer “new increased capacity,” up to US$150 million or 150 million euros, covering terrorism political risk and war risks.

“Chubb has increased its terrorism and political violence capacity per account by 300% in the last two years,” the Zurich-based firm said in a press release.

ACE Ltd. changed its name in 2015 to Chubb Ltd., after completing its acquisition of The Chubb Corp. of Warren, N.J.

Chubb reported Monday its capacity for terrorism, political violence and war risks was previously US$100 million or 100 million euros. The euro closed Monday at $1.50 while the U.S. dollar closed at $1.34.

“In addition to standalone cover, Chubb also offers an integrated proposition specifically designed to cover the gaps between traditional property and business interruption, terrorism and political violence insurance policies,” Chubb stated Monday.

In 2016, there were 96 terrorist attacks in the west, Aon plc reported this past April in its Terrorism and Political Violence Map. The report has a global focus and comments on the risk from: terrorism and sabotage; strikes, riots, civil commotion and malicious damage; and insurrection, revolution, rebellion, mutiny, coup d’état, civil war and war. Aon produced the report in conjunction with The Risk Advisory Group.

On June 3, three attackers rammed into a crowd on the London Bridge and then stabbed several passersby. Eight people, plus the attackers (Khurum Butt, Youssef Zaghba and Rachid Redouane) died.

Also in England, 22 were killed May 22 by suicide bomber Salman Abedi at a concert in Manchester, England.

In the west in 2016, 189 people died from terrorist attacks. Of those, 99 died in vehicular attacks, which “became the single most lethal form of attack in 2016 in Western countries for the first time ever,” Aon reported this past April.

“The targets of such attacks have tended to be unsecured crowded locations that can yield mass casualties and high levels of disruption, such as busy streets, markets, airports transit hubs and entertainment venues,” Aon said in its Terrorism and Political Violence Map. “The impact of the threat in terms of business losses continues to shift away from property damage to business interruption and loss of life.”

Public Safety Canada reported last year that the “principal terrorist threat to Canada remains that posed by violent extremists,” adding that “violent extremist ideologies espoused” by groups such as Dawla al-Islamiya fi al-Iraq wa as-Sham (DAESH) – also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – “continue to appeal to certain individuals in Canada.”

Two Canadian Forces members – Corporal Nathan Cirillo and Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent – were killed in October, 2014 in separate attacks in Canada. Cirillo was on sentry duty at the National War Memorial in Ottawa when he was shot and killed by Zehaf Bibeau, who then entered the Parliament Buildings. Bibeau was later shot and killed by Kevin Vickers, then the Sergeant-at-Arms. Vincent died from injuries after being deliberately rammed in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec by a vehicle driven by Martin Couture-Rouleau, who was later shot and killed by civilian police.

In August, 2016, Aaron Driver died after being shot by police in a taxi in Strathroy, Ont., west of London. Driver had made a martyrdom video that suggested he was planning to detonate a homemade bomb in an urban centre, The Canadian Press reported at the time. Driver’s intended destination was reportedly the Citi Plaza shopping mall, formerly known Wellington Square, in downtown London.