Gallagher has found that more than a quarter of UK businesses were impacted by civil unrest in 2024. The intermediary spoke to more than 500 decision makers at businesses of different sizes and nearly two-thirds said the continuation of the issue was a major concern for the year ahead.

Coffee farmers in Vietnam have received the first ever payout of a parametric insurance policy following losses related to low rainfall. Willis placed the parametric solution with Bao Minh Insurance Corporation in Vietnam in 2024 to protect coffee farmers’ revenue from yield losses caused by low rainfall during the critical flowering period.

Next Insurance is rolling out a series of AI tools developed by property and climate risk analytics provider, ZestyAI. Under the agreement, the commercial insurer will adopt ZestyAI’s Z-Property and Z-Fire models to enhance its underwriting processes.

Risk professionals say their organisations are prepared for weather-related natural catastrophes, according to a survey published by Airmic this week. The risk association’s latest Big Question poll found that 85% of risk professionals felt either ‘very well prepared’ or ‘somewhat prepared’ for weather-related natural catastrophes.

As the third anniversary of the Russia-Ukraine war approaches, risk professionals are abandoning plans and contingencies drawn up earlier in the war, in response to fundamentally changed dynamics. According to this week’s Airmic Big Question poll, just 21% of risk leaders are following geopolitical risk contingencies drawn up earlier.

Lockton has launched a specialised insurance facility designed to streamline coverage for battery energy storage system projects. As energy storage becomes an increasingly critical component of the renewable energy transition, the broker’s new facility promises competitive pricing through its full-follow structure, providing up to £250m in capacity and a pricing credit within 48 hours.