The Risk of ‘Take-Home’ COVID-19 and the ‘Next Asbestos’

[Editor's note: Melissa Boudreau is the Vice President of Modeling and Chief Actuary at Praedicat, a science-based data analytics company. Robert T. Reville is the Chief Executive Officer of Praedicat. This article first appeared in Carrier Management. Replies to this commentary are welcome.]

Estimates of the size of COVID-19’s impact on the insurance industry vary widely, but some companies (including Chubb and Willis Re) have suggested that, considering both asset and liability losses, it will be the largest event in insurance history. In the sense of the size of industry loss, then, the coronavirus appears to be the …