In March last year, Real Media covered the Boycott Bloody Insurance campaign launch and their march across the city of London. It marked the release of a detailed report entitled Insuring Genocide: The Insurance Industry and Israel’s War Machine, which exposed the relationship between major insurers and businesses like Elbit Systems, General Dynamics, BAE, and Maersk.
This year, the group have released a new report entitled Insuring Complicity: 2026 Insurer Grading. The new report looks at thirty-seven insurance companies which are active in the UK and involved in the underwriting of companies involved in fossil fuels, military equipment and migrant detention and surveillance.
The grading used two datasets which apply to all of the insurers, making direct comparisons possible between them. The first of these are the premiums paid by clients carrying out fossil fuel activities, including coal mining, oil and gas extraction, and electricity generation from coal or gas. The second data set is simply employers’ liability cover, seeking to identify the insurers that provide insurance to:
- companies running detention centres and accommodation for migrants in the UK or involved in surveillance,
- companies that have supplied or whose equipment has been deployed for Israel’s assault on Palestinians since October 2023
- companies that are authorized in the UK to export components for F-35 fighter jets
- companies linked to controversial weapons: nuclear, white phosphorus, or depleted uranium.
Researchers also looked at the insurance companies’ investments in companies across these areas. Although investment data was not used for the grading directly, it’s given as additional information and identifies major insurers like Allianz, Aviva, Axa, Zurich and Intact.
Only eight insurers out of thirty seven are actually recommended in the report. Seven insurers are identified as having high exposure to destructive companies, these are Chubb, AIG, QBE, Zurich, Allianz, Fairfax and AXA. There is also a company by company outline of some of the most well-known household insurance brands, with a breakdown of their destructive complicity.
The report is a valuable source of information for ordinary workers, council taxpayers, and members of large organisations, as well as campaigners and activists. In our interview with researcher Monika Nielsen, she told us about the International Workers of Great Britain Union which divested from Allianz recently. She suggests that if you are in a union or work in a council, you can ask who covers their insurance and then start campaigning to get it changed if it’s one of the worst ones identified in the report.
Palestine Action, before it was proscribed, had a long campaign of direct action against insurers Allianz, which finally saw them drop their insurance cover for Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit systems.
Now, other groups have begun a new campaign aimed at Chubb, which has now taken over insurance for Elbit.
Last year the prestigious British Insurance Awards were disrupted by a protest held by Extinction Rebellion spin-off, Insure Our Futures.
Whether smashing windows, throwing red paint, or leafletting, writing letters or speaking with your colleagues or neighbours, this research is a useful tool to identify the financial supporters of climate chaos, genocide and injustice. Without insurance, companies such as Elbit, BP, Shell and Serco would not be able to operate, so the big insurers exposed by this report can be a key pressure point for campaigners across disparate movements.
Boycott Bloody Insurance are planning a month of actions in June this year. There’s a sign-up form on their website to stay informed.
