Skip to main content

BoE warns of 20% hike in insurer failure risk from Solvency II reforms

Andrew Bailey

The governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, has warned that the proposed Solvency II reforms to loosen capital requirements will increase the risk of life insurer failure by 20%.

According to Bailey, pictured, the danger of a life insurer collapsing will rise to 0.6% from 0.5%.

£8bn

The £22bn risk margin was expected to shrink to around £8bn after the reforms

In a letter to Parliament’s Treasury Committee, dated 22 February and released 6 March, Bailey set out that the risk margin for the life insurance sector was £22bn, and this was expected to shrink to around £8bn after the reforms.

Risk margin

The risk margin is an additional capital buffer held by

Only users who have a paid subscription or are part of a corporate subscription are able to print or copy content.

To access these options, along with all other subscription benefits, please contact info@insuranceage.co.uk or view our subscription options here: https://subscriptions.insuranceage.co.uk/subscribe

You are currently unable to copy this content. Please contact info@insuranceage.co.uk to find out more.

Sorry, our subscription options are not loading right now

Please try again later. Get in touch with our customer services team if this issue persists.

New to Insurance Age? View our subscription options

Blog: When does optimism topple over into delusion?

The Biba Conference last month was a triumph, and the lyric that united every insurance conversation in the city was growth. But the unbridled optimism about growth almost always came with the bassline ‘have you heard about the crazy rating in the market?’ Emmanuel Kenning interprets the notes asking if maybe for once it really is time to shrink to greatness.

Flood Re rolls out consumer campaign

Flood Re has launched a UK-wide educational tour promoting flood resilience and encouraging people to rethink the response to flood risk, with the joint initiative between the government and insurers using “the UK’s largest digital advertising van”.

Most read articles loading...

You need to sign in to use this feature. If you don’t have an Insurance Age account, please register now.

Sign in
You are currently on corporate access.

To use this feature you will need an individual account. If you have one already please sign in.

Sign in.

Alternatively you can request an indvidual account here: