{"text":[[{"start":7.76,"text":"The violent unrest in France last weekend is set to be among the country’s largest protest-driven loss events for insurers, even as the government seeks EU approval to require state-backed riot insurance for properties."}],[{"start":21.16,"text":"Insurers face up to €1.2bn in losses, according to analysts Morningstar DBRS, while brokers also said potential losses could breach €1bn. While the streets had calmed by Monday night, they said costs could rise further if the unrest continued."}],[{"start":38.4,"text":"Riots are becoming “like natural catastrophes” in France, Morningstar analyst Marcos Alvarez told the FT, with an event costing hundreds of millions of euros in damage now expected each year."}],[{"start":50.44,"text":"Losses from this weekend’s riots quickly outstripped the more than €700mn in insured losses from riots in 2023 that lasted more than a week. This was because the recent street violence was “very intense and widespread”, Alvarez said, as well as because inflation had driven up the cost of damages."}],[{"start":69.6,"text":"France was wracked over the weekend by mass protests that were largely peaceful at first but later spiralled into looting and attacks on buildings."}],[{"start":77.48,"text":"At least 3,000 businesses across the country were damaged, according to a preliminary estimate by France’s commerce minister Serge Papin. Luxury retailers such as Louis Vuitton and Kenzo were among the stores targeted."}],[{"start":90.56,"text":"In 2023, mass protests that led to property damage erupted multiple times, prompting the government to begin working on the new insurance scheme. There were months of periodic protests over President Emmanuel Macron’s unpopular plan to raise the retirement age, then an outbreak of riots in July when a teenager was killed by the police."}],[{"start":111.3,"text":"The July riots ended up costing insurers €798mn, according to the industry group France Assureurs."}],[{"start":118.92,"text":"Private insurers have sought to curb their exposure to social unrest. Some have introduced exclusions of “strikes, riots and civil commotion” — known as SRCC — from their coverage, prompting enterprises to buy a separate policy covering these threats. Others have agreed to continue covering such events but have capped payouts using so-called sublimits."}],[{"start":138.68,"text":"Exclusions and carve-outs for SRCC had become more common since the “gilets jaunes” or yellow vest protests broke out in 2018, said Paris-based Clyde & Co insurance lawyer David Méheut. Specialised private insurance for riots was still available, he said, but “there’s a wish to respond to a political issue, which is that some people are not insured”."}],[{"start":162.04,"text":"Business frustration with a “perceived shortfall of coverage”, he said, had prompted France to pass new legislation making riot insurance a mandatory part of all property insurance coverage."}],[{"start":172.84,"text":"If the EU finds that the law does not contravene state aid rules, the new scheme will be funded through a levy on insurers that is expected to be passed on to insurance buyers. It has not yet been launched, however, and is not expected to retroactively cover this weekend’s demonstrations."}],[{"start":188.92,"text":"In addition to insurers’ contributions, the mandatory riot insurance scheme will also be backstopped by a €4bn maximum guarantee from the French state, through its reinsurer Caisse Centrale de Réassurance."}],[{"start":200.96,"text":"“Right now, most of the cost [of the destruction] is being absorbed by those who are more exposed to riots,” Alvarez said, but the scheme “will spread the cost of riot insurance across everyone. If you’re in a small or large town, you’ll be contributing.”"}],[{"start":215.64,"text":"Axa chief executive Thomas Buberl said the government needed to learn lessons from the riots at the weekend, not rely on insurers to cover losses."}],[{"start":223.06,"text":"“I think the state must really fulfil its mandate to ensure internal security, and after this weekend, there shouldn’t be a second or third weekend like this,” he said on BFM television on Monday."}],[{"start":239,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1792543221_3429.mp3"}