A number of businesses are expected to review and de-risk their supply chains and build in more resilience as a long-term consequence of Covid-19, according to Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS).

The prediction is made as part of a new report released this week: ‘How Covid-19 is changing claims trends and risk exposures for companies and their insurers’.

According to AGCS, the Covid-19 pandemic is one of the largest economic loss events in history for companies and insurers alike, but it’s not only the magnitude of the impact which is unprecedented as claims trends and risk exposures are likely to evolve in both the mid- and long-term.

The insurer added that the review process by corporates could involve some reshoring of critical production areas because of disruption caused by the pandemic. Such a move, the specialty insurer suggests, would likely impact the frequency of claims and the costs of any future business interruptions.

Meanwhile, it added, the growth of home working means that companies may have lower property assets and fewer employees on site in future, but there would be corresponding changes in workers` compensation and cyber risks.

Also in the future risk spotlight are potential cyber claims. As AGCS noted, during the pandemic cyber risk exposures have heightened, with reports of the number of ransomware and business email compromise attacks increasing.  To date, however, AGCS said it has only seen a small number of cyber claims which are Covid-19 related.

A wider consequence of Covid-19 relates to the digital arena, with the pandemic also reinforing the need for digitalisation of claims handling, with remote claims inspections and assessments for tornados, floods or major industry accidents now possible through satellite, drone or image capture technology and tools such as MirrorMe.

  “Just a few years ago, claims processes were mostly manual and paper-based and many people could not have imagined handling claims remotely,” said AGCS global head of claims, Philipp Cremer.

“Now technology plays a key role. AGCS’ cloud-based claims platform has passed the test of the coronavirus with our digital claims processes proving resilient throughout the lockdown. This, together with a strongly collaborative approach from our clients and brokers, has enabled our claims teams to handle a surge in claims and deliver expert service without disruption while working remotely.”