Can the Finance Industry Be Trusted This Time?
Whether insurers pay out on Covid-19 claims will have a big bearing on attitudes toward finance. And that has serious economic consequences.
An insured loss?
Photographer: Leon Neal/Getty Images EuropeLike the rest of us, the world’s finance industry is still wrestling with the huge uncertainty of a pandemic that doesn’t yet have an end. The sector’s reputation took a battering after the financial crisis, and it’s too early to say how things will go this time.
One area in the spotlight is insurance, with myriad claims being pursued by small businesses seeking redress for their Covid-related losses. In one of many cases around the world, the U.K.’s financial market regulator is taking on the insurance industry in a High Court battle that could affect as many as 370,000 customers — predominantly small companies — and cost the sector billions of dollars in payouts.