Insurers set for talks on pandemic cover

INSURERS are set to hold talks with the Government with a view to insuring small businesses against another catastrophic pandemic.

Trade body the Association of British Insurers said it would be pushing policymakers to consider creating a Government-backed plan.

Huw Evans, director general of the ABI, told The Mail on Sunday it was impossible for insurers alone to provide cover to small firms for an event as devastating as the current virus outbreak.

He said insurers would go bust if they had to pay out claims to British businesses with total revenues of £4.4 trillion all at the same time.

He said: ‘To insure against that on a normal economic basis would be unaffordable for every business in the country. The only way you can insure against such a risk is with direct state support.’

Evans said insurers would offer to work with the Government to build a specialised scheme that would pay out to firms forced to shut down in a future pandemic.