Editor’s note: The following letter was sent to Delaware Insurance Commissioner Trinidad Navarro.
History shows that war can be very bad for insurance companies. Are reserves adequate? What are the enforceable scopes of war-exclusion provisions? On and on. You are an expert; you can analogize to the recent decades’ experience with hurricanes and coastal areas that have resulted in major carriers abandoning impacted markets due to the impossibility of accurately forecasting the risks, including here in Delaware.
To protect Delawareans, and to serve as an example for the country and world, please issue a directive that all companies under your purview — maybe excluding those with predominately residential coverages — report on their exposure to anything Russian, including all the people, companies, entities, etc., on sanction lists owned or controlled by those people, companies and entities in order to allow a thorough evaluation and increase of capital and reserves for those companies with such risks on their books.
No person or entity on any of the worldwide Russian sanctioned lists should be insured by any insurance company doing business in Delaware, as it is impossible to properly underwrite the risk without betting the company, and thus, putting Delaware policyholders at risk.
For example, if an insurance company insured a Russian airline, the risk on those policies have skyrocketed. Likewise, ships, transportation companies, manufacturing, yachts, etc.
Thank you very much for your consideration and anticipated prompt actions.
Tom Irvine
Lewes
