Home > Adani loses another insurer as Lloyd’s market feels the pressure

Adani loses another insurer as Lloyd’s market feels the pressure

29 October 2020

29 October 2020

UPDATE: Lancashire and Ascot have both ruled insurance for the Adani Carmichael project

Another Lloyd’s insurer that is providing cover for the Adani Carmichael project has committed to not renewing or taking on any new policies with the destructive coal project.

Apollo Underwriters is the latest Lloyd’s syndicate to dump Adani and the second of its current insurers to do so, after Aspen Insurance did the same earlier this year.

In a statement provided to Market Forces, Apollo Underwriters said: “We participate in one construction liability policy in respect of Adani Carmichael. […] This particular policy terminates in September 2021 after which we will no longer provide any insurance cover for this project.”

The statement also said that Apollo had recently declined to participate in an additional policy relating to the “port and rail extension”.

Adani has now been dumped by its second insurer and its options in the Lloyd’s marketplace are rapidly shrinking as the #StopAdani campaign pushes many of the remaining syndicates to not insure the project in the future. Apollo is the 17th Lloyd’s syndicate to publicly rule out insurance for Adani’s Carmichael project and the 27th major insurance company in total.

The #StopAdani campaign is now focused on nine Lloyd’s insurers which are refusing to take a position on Adani:

LogoCompanyCountryStatement
Ark InsuranceUK-- FAILED TO RESPOND --
Ascot GroupBermuda-- FAILED TO RESPOND --
Hamilton Insurance GroupBermuda"Hamilton is completing the integration of businesses acquired during a deal with Liberty Mutual. Once we finalize our integration, which is expected to be in mid 2021, we will review our Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) principles to ensure they reflect the underwriting guidelines of our expanded enterprise."

Statement does not rule out current or future insurance for Adani Carmichael
Inigo InsuranceUK-- FAILED TO RESPOND --
LancashireUK-- FAILED TO RESPOND --
MarkelUSA-- FAILED TO RESPOND --
StarrUSA"Starr companies has no involvement in the Carmichael mine project."

Note: This statement is from late 2018, before Lloyd's got involved in insuring Carmichael and it does not rule out future underwriting.
Managing Agency Partners (MAP)UK-- FAILED TO RESPOND --
W.R.B Underwriting
(a W.R. Berkley subsidiary)
USA-- FAILED TO RESPOND --


Adani claims that it “has the requisite insurance requirements in place”. This may be so for now, but with Lloyd’s insurers retreating left, right and center, Adani must let its investors, bankers and contractors know where exactly it will get the insurance it so badly needs to run its coal mine, rail line and port for the next 5, 10 or 20 years.

Adani had to resort to securing insurance from the Lloyd’s marketplace because its disastrous project has been shunned by most traditional insurance companies. Leaks from Adani’s insurance broker Marsh showed that mainstream insurers Axa, HDI Global and Liberty Mutual abandoned Adani in 2019, and they have promised never to return.

So what happens when the Lloyd’s of London market also refuses to provide it with insurance? Where will Adani get the insurance it needs to operate for decades to come? Who will be forced to bear the risk?

With pressure from the #StopAdani campaign only increasing on the Lloyd’s insurers yet to make a commitment on Adani and the list of insurers restricting their coal underwriting in general continuing to grow, Adani faces the very real prospect of being unable to ensure its climate-wrecking coal mining activities in Australia.

Take action: contact the insurers which have yet to take a public stand refusing to insure the Adani Carmichael project.

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