Start Date
4-1987 8:00 AM
Description
As we are all acutely aware, the international insurance industry has suffered substantial losses in the casualty insurance arena in the past several years. Some of those losses, but certainly not all, have been attributable to certain space activities undertaken by members of the international community. In addition, many of the insurance problems also involve the extraordinary number of aircraft accidents and other casualty losses associated with product liability and related liability payouts which have occurred within a relatively short period of time.
As a result, the allocation of risks between manufacturers of various technologies, the users and consumers of such technologies, and the insurers and re-insurers of such ventures, have resulted in a real or perceived imbalance of risk-taking to the apparent detriment of the insurers at this particular point in time. The reasons for this are, to be sure, complex. One thing is probably certain, however, and that is the global insurance community is exasperated at being the risk takers of last resort when it comes to what perhaps should by now be routine space activities. It is easy to be very sympathetic with this exasperation, but we must also keep in perspective that this is the nature of the insurance business. There are good times and bad. The pendulum of insurance underwriting history, which is never in complete equilibrium, appears to have swung in the direction of bad times for the space insurance industry. We all hope that the pendulum will swing back in favor of good times soon.
Insurance and Indemnification Implications of Future Space Projects
As we are all acutely aware, the international insurance industry has suffered substantial losses in the casualty insurance arena in the past several years. Some of those losses, but certainly not all, have been attributable to certain space activities undertaken by members of the international community. In addition, many of the insurance problems also involve the extraordinary number of aircraft accidents and other casualty losses associated with product liability and related liability payouts which have occurred within a relatively short period of time.
As a result, the allocation of risks between manufacturers of various technologies, the users and consumers of such technologies, and the insurers and re-insurers of such ventures, have resulted in a real or perceived imbalance of risk-taking to the apparent detriment of the insurers at this particular point in time. The reasons for this are, to be sure, complex. One thing is probably certain, however, and that is the global insurance community is exasperated at being the risk takers of last resort when it comes to what perhaps should by now be routine space activities. It is easy to be very sympathetic with this exasperation, but we must also keep in perspective that this is the nature of the insurance business. There are good times and bad. The pendulum of insurance underwriting history, which is never in complete equilibrium, appears to have swung in the direction of bad times for the space insurance industry. We all hope that the pendulum will swing back in favor of good times soon.
Comments
No other information or file available for this session.