Top 10 International Insurance Journal Stories of 2021

December 30, 2021 by

For the third consecutive year, the tale of Aon’s on-again, off-again bid to acquire Willis Towers Watson dominated international stories published by Insurance Journal. In fact, most of the top 10 international articles and nearly 25% of the top 100 articles during 2021 focused on various aspects of the now-failed $30 billion merger.

As a result, we’ve combined those Aon-WTW merger articles in the top 10, and pushed up the next non-Aon merger stories on the list. After all, there was more news during the year!

Just a reminder, the marriage of Aon and Willis was first announced in March of 2019 – and then was very quickly abandoned because of Irish regulations. A year later, in March 2020, the merger was back on again. But by July of 2021, after receiving insurmountable objections from the U.S. Department of Justice, which had antitrust concerns, the marriage once again was called off. For a more detailed synopsis of Aon’s ill-fated attempt to purchase WTW, check out the Top 10 National Insurance Journal Stories of 2021.

Other top international news stories for the year cover the UK Supreme Court decision on business interruption, the giant containership that got stuck in the Suez Canal, the deadly crash of a Sriwijaya Air passenger jet in the Java Sea, ransomware, post-COVID working arrangements, the future of passwords and insurance rates. Oh wait – there was one more story in the top 10 that has a connection to Aon via its founder Pat Ryan. For more details, keep reading.

Here are the Top 10 International Insurance Journal news stories of 2021:

1) Update: Aon and Willis Terminate $30B Merger, Aon to Pay $1B Break-up Fee

Although the news of the merger’s termination is the number one story for the year, there are more Aon/WTW articles in the top 11, which are also listed here.

2) UK Supreme Court Rules Businesses Should Be Insured for COVID-19 Claims

The long-running dispute between UK insurers and their insureds over COVID-related business interruption claims was resolved in January by the UK Supreme Court. This article provided details of the ruling, which ruled that many policies should cover the losses experienced by small businesses during coronavirus lockdowns. Hiscox, RSA, QBE, Argenta, Arch and MS Amlin had argued that their BI policies did not cover lockdowns from a pandemic but the court disagreed. An article on initial reactions to the decision was also high on the list of top international articles in 2021.

3) Aon Founder Ryan Retired at 71, Then He Built a New $10B Business

Okay, this is another Aon-related article, but we’ve included it in the top 10 as a stand-alone item because it’s a profile of Aon’s founder Patrick G. Ryan, who now runs Ryan Specialty Group. After he retired from Aon, he didn’t know what to do with himself, so he decided to create a new career. An inspiration for us all…

4) Insurers of Container Ship Aground in Suez Canal Face Millions in Claims

The giant container ship Ever Given got stuck diagonally in the Suez Canal for nearly a week after trying, and failing, to navigate through heavy winds. It dominated international headlines, not just Insurance Journal headlines, when it cut off this vital international supply route. This article, at number four, was one of many about the Ever Given in the top 100 international stories.

5) Insurer AXA to Stop Paying for Ransomware Crime Payments in France

Some cyber-security experts believe that cyber insurance actually attracts ransomware attacks because hackers are more likely to target companies that have coverage. In response to the global epidemic of ransomware and these concerns, AXA announced in May it will stop writing cyber-insurance policies in France that reimburse customers for extortion payments made to ransomware criminals. The suspension only applies to France, did not affect existing policies, nor does it affect coverage for responding and recovering from ransomware attacks.

6) Shipping Containers Plunge Overboard as Supply Race Raises Risks

This article details the fact that the shipping industry saw the biggest spike in lost containers in seven years. “More than 3,000 boxes dropped into the sea [in 2020], and more than 1,000 have fallen overboard so far in 2021,” said the Bloomberg article, which noted that the accidents are disrupting supply chains for hundreds of U.S. retailers and manufacturers. It was perhaps these concerns about global supply chain disruptions that also pushed an article about an abandoned Dutch cargo ship into the top 20 of 2021 articles.

7) ‘Totally Destroyed’ Indonesia Jet in Java Sea Makes Search Almost Impossible

Details of the deadly crash of the Sriwijaya Air Flight 182 passenger jet and recovery efforts was the subject of this January article. While Indonesia has suffered several air disasters over the past decade, the Sriwijaya crash into the Java Sea was considered the worst by one of the divers who participated in the recovery.

8) PwC Announces Hybrid Post-COVID Working Model for UK Staff

Post-COVID working arrangements are a concern for companies across the globe as they navigate the so-called “new normal” for their employees. (Work-from-home, office work or hybrid arrangements?). While a large number of articles in our top 100 international news stories were about workers in a post-COVID world, the one covering PricewaterhouseCoopers and its hybrid working model, topped the list at number eight.

9) Forgotten Your Passwords? They Soon May Be Lost Altogether – With Insurers’ Help

This article discusses how underwriters increasingly are requiring specific IT security improvements before coverage can be bound – and perhaps may resolve the problem of employees who use passwords such as “123456.” The article was written by a contributor, James Patterson, who is vice president, Cyber & Technology E&O for Ambridge Partners, a New York City-headquartered managing general agent.

10) Commercial Insurance Prices Rose 22% in Q4, but Some Lines Began to Plateau: Marsh

Articles about rates and their moves, up or down, are always well read and 2021 was no exception. This article about rates seen in Q4 2020 topped the list. Hint: All rates continued to rise in 2021, although there are signs that some lines are plateauing.

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