The ongoing conflict in the Middle East will currently have a negligible direct impact on global reinsurer SCOR in terms of claims, with chief executive officer (CEO) Thierry Léger stressing that the reinsurance industry “can rise to such challenges”.
SCOR’s CEO commented on the situation in the Middle East, speaking to the media after releasing a set of strong results for the fourth quarter and full year 2025.
“First and foremost, our thoughts are with the people of the affected countries. War should always be a last resort and we hope that the conflict will be resolved as soon as possible. For SCOR, the immediate impact in terms of claims is currently negligible. Most of our contracts exclude war, and where it is involved, our exposure is obviously limited, monitored and priced,” he said.
Conflict in the Middle East escalated over the weekend, with multiple attacks by the United States and Israel leading to retaliatory attacks by Iran, causing widespread destruction and chaos across the region.
Given the seriousness of the situation, Léger was asked if SCOR was taking any significant underwriting actions to limit any risks.
“That’s yes and no,” the CEO said. “Our contracts typically extend for one year. All of these contracts are for a fixed term and you’re exposed to risk. But generally the contracts don’t cover war, which is one of the strongest exclusions in reinsurance and it’s a standard that applies everywhere. So when we underwrite war in certain lines of business, it’s done in a well-controlled way.”
He stressed that it was important for the Paris-based reinsurer to closely monitor risks and therefore not take on unknown risks.
“That’s also why when you look at properties, most of the risks exclude war. There are properties that have paid specific war insurance and then we include that in it. So, there’s definitely some risk in the area, property risk, usually a larger risk, that includes war insurance. But again, limited, clearly controlled and so on.
“Beyond that, obviously, we have other insurance specifically for war – political violence, political risk, that’s their thing, so there’s nothing to worry about, that’s the business we’re in. And then, beyond that…it’s also maritime, maritime we have the ability to cancel policies, so that’s a process on our client side. So, our clients where the war started are actually watching very closely and closely monitoring what’s going on and doing canceling policies,” Léger said.
On the aviation front, the CEO noted that everyone is keeping an eye on developments because there are planes on the ground and in the sky, although he expressed hope that planes in the sky won’t be an issue.
“It’s not because of us as insurance companies and reinsurers, but because beyond that, I hope that everything goes well for us in the air and we are still able to fly. We have aircraft on the ground and that is an area of great concern. There are, of course, similar possibilities to address insurance issues, but in aviation there is often a difference between war and non-war, and war is usually very limited, well-defined and priced,” he said.
“So, overall, this conflict is really nothing to worry about, it’s at the core of our business and we know how to deal with it. Even if it takes a little longer, the industry can deal with challenges like this,” Léger concluded.
Yesterday, Standard & Poor’s said reinsurers’ capital adequacy was sufficient to mitigate the potential risk of a deterioration in credit quality caused by war in the Middle East, warning that those most affected would be those with broad business coverage and large exposure to the region’s specialist markets.
As Middle East conflict escalates, reinsurers can rise to the challenge: SCOR CEO appeared first on ReinsuranceNe.ws.
