Remedies for Expanding Liability

This paper deals with the claims of industrial operators and their insurers that expanding liability is being experienced in many legal systems in Europe and will lead to the uninsurability of certain risks. In this paper we address some aspects of this insurability problem by trying to identify precisely what might make an expanding liability risk uninsurable. Then we examine whether there are remedies for expanding liability that might result in certain risks remaining insurable. In that respect we shall consider alternative compensation systems, financial caps, differentiation of risks, and the application of insurance policies over time, more specifically related to so-called ‘long-tail’ risks. Although each of these aspects might merit a separate paper, we prefer to discuss them in an integrated way by providing a balanced answer to current questions concerning the insurability of modem industrial hazards.