Business Interruption Is Becoming a Multi-Risk Event
Business interruption is no longer driven only by physical damage at an insured location.
Modern organisations depend on suppliers, cloud providers, logistics networks, power systems, communications infrastructure and specialised technology. A failure in any one of these areas can interrupt production or service delivery across several countries and industries.
The Allianz Risk Barometer 2026 ranks business interruption and supply-chain disruption as the third most important global corporate risk. Only 3% of surveyed respondents described their supply chains as very resilient.
The risk is becoming more interconnected. A severe weather event may disrupt transport and electricity supply while a cyber incident affects communications or production systems. Trade restrictions, regional conflicts and regulatory changes may compound the same loss.
For insurers and reinsurers, traditional assumptions about duration, dependency and geographic concentration therefore require closer review. Underwriting should consider critical suppliers, single points of failure, alternative sourcing, recovery times and the extent to which several insureds rely on the same infrastructure or service provider.
The most important shift is from isolated-risk analysis to scenario-based portfolio thinking.
Business interruption should be viewed as a potential consequence of cyber, climate, political, infrastructure and operational risks occurring separately—or simultaneously.