TORONTO, ON — The CEO of Canada’s Property and Casualty Insurance Compensation Corporation (PACICC), Alister Campbell, today announced the release of the Third Edition of the organization’s Global Failed Insurer Catalogue (GFIC). The new edition notes an astonishing 965 insurers that are known to have failed in 71 different jurisdictions, just since the year 2000. “This massive research project, led by PACICC Chief Economist Grant Kelly and Research Associate Judy (Zhe) Peng, provides us with compelling evidence regarding the continuing risk of insurer failure – in both developing as well as developed economies,” said Campbell
Global Failed Insurer Catalogue (Third Edition) ‒ Key Research Findings:
- 965 insurers have failed in 71 different countries (119 jurisdictions) worldwide since 2000 ‒ 606 P&C insurers; 324 Life insurers; 22 Composite insurers (selling both P&C and Life policies) and 13 Reinsurers
- On average, 38 insurers fail each year around the globe ‒ 24 P&C, 13 Life and one Composite
- It is normal for individual jurisdictions to have long periods with no insurer insolvencies
- More than half (65.7 percent) of all insurer failures around the world occur as part of a “cluster” ‒ defined as three or more failures within three years
- A majority of policyholders outside of North America were not protected by a policyholder protection mechanism when their insurance company failed ‒ clear evidence of a serious protection gap in global policyholder protection
Author Kelly notes that the updated study information shows clustering of insurer failures in numerous jurisdictions, after significant periods of relative calm in the marketplace. “It would be very risky to assume that, because no insurer has failed recently in a given jurisdiction, no future failures can happen,” he said. “Our research identifies clusters of insurer failures that occurred 93 times across 45 jurisdictions since 2000, often after sustained periods of calm. This should serve as a sobering reminder to all financial services sector stakeholders of the risks of complacency.”
Perhaps the most sobering finding from the research project is the large number of failures in jurisdictions without policyholder protection mechanisms in place. Says Campbell, “While the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) continues to develop standards for best practice in supervisory regimes, it has yet to embed an expectation regarding the existence of policyholder protection mechanisms within its core standards. As it seeks to help to close “protection gaps” in insurance markets around the world, we urge the IAIS to take note of the reality of insurer failure in unprotected jurisdictions, so clearly illustrated in our updated Catalogue. Insurers can fail anywhere and anytime. Insurance guarantee mechanisms exist in numerous countries around the world ‒ but not everywhere. They are a core component of an effective financial services safety net, and deserved to be championed by key opinion leaders such as IAIS.”
Link ‒ https://www.pacicc.ca/wp-content/uploads/Global-Failed-Insurer-Catalogue-2025.pdf
Copies of all Why Insurers Fail studies are available on the PACICC website (pacicc.ca).
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PACICC is the industry-funded, non-profit resolution authority for Canada’s Property and Casualty (P&C) insurance industry. PACICC’s mission is to protect eligible policyholders from undue financial loss in the event that a Member Insurer becomes insolvent. The Corporation works to minimize the costs of insurer insolvencies and seeks to maintain a high level of consumer and business confidence in Canada’s P&C insurance industry through the financial protection that it provides to policyholders.