Ethiopian crash could be largest non-war aviation reinsurance claim: Willis Re

Liability claims related to the Ethiopian Airlines crash and the grounding of Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft could be the largest non-war aviation reinsurance claim on record, hitting reinsurers’ profitability, reinsurance broker Willis Re said. The crash of Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 302 on March 10 killed 157 passengers and crew, the second deadly crash involving a Boeing Co 737 MAX 8 airliner in five months. Liability claims for the passengers’ loss of life and in relation to the grounded aircraft could total around a billion dollars, said James Vickers, chairman of Willis Re International, a large sum for the aviation reinsurance market which Vickers said was “very small and very, very specialist”. Reinsurers help insurers share the cost of large claims, in return for part of the premium. The losses could erode three to four years of aviation reinsurers’ premium in the “global excess of loss” category of reinsurance, Willis Re said Monday in its summary of reinsurance activity at the key April 1 renewal date. In excess of loss reinsurance, the insurers are on the hook for the first part of the claim, and reinsurers only pay out on claims above a certain level.<br/>