Insurers could see claims increase as mass IT outage grounds planes

Insurance firms may see an increase in claims due to a major IT outage causing severe disruption to airlines this morning (19 July 2024).

Several planes have been grounded due to the IT issues, with airports warning of longer wait times.

Edinburgh Airport was among them, with it saying on X, formerly known as twitter, that passengers should not travel to the airport without first checking the status of their flight with their airline.

ℹ️| An IT system outage means wait times are longer than usual at the airport.⁰⁰This outage is affecting many other businesses, including airports.⁰⁰Work is ongoing to resolve this and our teams are on hand to assist where we can. Passengers are thanked for their patience.

— Edinburgh Airport (@EDI_Airport) July 19, 2024

It said: “An IT system outage means wait times are longer than usual at the airport. This outage is affecting many other businesses, including airports.

“Work is ongoing to resolve this and our teams are on hand to assist where we can. Passengers are thanked for their patience.”

Ryanair also warned of disruption, with it adding: “We’re currently experiencing disruption across the network due to a global 3rd party IT outage which is out of our control.

We’re currently experiencing disruption across the network due to a Global 3rd party IT outage which is out of our control. We advise all passengers to arrive at the airport at least 3 hours before their scheduled departure time.

Cont’d in comments…

— Ryanair (@Ryanair) July 19, 2024

“We advise all passengers to arrive at the airport at least 3 hours before their scheduled departure time.”

Trains have also been affected by the issue, with Thameslink reporting that it was experiencing widespread IT issues across its entire network.

“Our IT teams are actively investigating to determine the root cause of the problem,” it said.

“We are unable to access driver diagrams at certain locations, leading to potential short-notice cancellations, particularly on the Thameslink and Great Northern networks.”

Parametric

It is unclear what has caused the outage this morning, but the delays in flights could result in insurers getting more claims.

For example, back in August 2023, UK passengers were hit with flight delays and cancellations due to a technical failure that meant controllers were not able to automatically process flight plans.

Blink Parametric chief executive Sid Mouncey said at the time that he saw a “surge in claims activity” as a result.

In turn, he said the insurance industry should “reinvent itself” and incorporate parametric systems.

“[There is] no doubt that the industry needs to prioritise the deployment of proactive and innovative flight disruption and luggage delay or loss insurance solutions for the traveller,” he said.

Speaking about the incident today, Dan Carr, head of cyber at Ariel Re, said technology and the widespread impact of its disruption ”is huge and is likely to only get more risky as our use of such technology increases”.

”Similarly, the market has mirrored that trend to consume security services in a similar fashion,” he added.

”When those two services intersect, or two incidents relate - as may be the case here - the potential for significant catastrophe loss is huge.

“The market has begun to provide specific solutions to cater for these risks in recent years, but the recent rise of systemic events shows we need to go further and faster.”