Lloyds of London and leading insurers Swiss Re have exclusion clauses for illnesses caused by EMFS.
Lloyds
In 2010, Lloyds published an Emerging Risk Teams Report called “Electro-magnetic Fields from Mobile Phones: Recent Developments” which identified the need to take a precautionary approach, the need for more research on long term effects from EMFs (particularly on children) and concluded that EMF cases could be more complex than asbestos claims.
On 7 February, 2019, Lloyds added an exclusion clause to their policies:
The clause excludes any compensation for claims:
“directly or indirectly arising out of, resulting from or contributed to by electromagnetic fields, electro-magnetic radiation, electromagnetism, radio waves or noise.”
It is important that “radio waves” are explicitly included as they, specifically the microwave zone, are what enable wireless communications devices like cell phones, wi-fi, cordless phones etc.
A commercial policy holder made an inquiry seeking clarification about the exclusion language, CFC Underwriting LTD in London, the UK agent for Lloyd’s, sent the following:
“The Electromagnetic Fields Exclusion (Exclusion 32) is a General Insurance Exclusion and is applied across the market as standard. The purpose of the exclusion is to exclude cover for illnesses caused by continuous long-term non-ionising radiation exposure i.e. through mobile phone usage.”
Lloyds is a coalition of insurance companies that buy insurance for themselves so that no company has too much exposure to a large event or disaster ( called ‘reinsurance’.) CFC is the British agents of Lloyds. “CFC is a specialist insurance provider and a pioneer in emerging risk…Headquartered in London and backed by Lloyds”.
See full article and video exploring the implications of this. In short, anyone who has a mast on their land, their office or school is responsible for any ill health effects caused by it and cannot be insured against any claims. This has huge potential power in terms of influencing those in positions of authority – head teachers, company owners etc about the dangers of 5G technology.
Swiss Re
From the Swiss Re SONAR 2019: New emerging risk insights report:
“The top five emerging risks in our SONAR 2019 report are digital technology’s clash with legacy hardware, potential threats from the spread of 5G mobile networks, increasingly limited fiscal and monetary flexibility by central banks, genetic testing’s implications on life insurers, and the impact of climate change on the life and health sector.”
From Swiss Re’s “Off the leash – 5G mobile networks“:
“To allow for a functional network coverage and increased capacity overall, more antennas will be needed, including acceptance of higher levels of electromagnetic radiation. In some jurisdictions, the rise of threshold values will require legal adaptation. Existing concerns regarding potential negative health effects from electromagnetic fields (EMF) are only likely to increase. An uptick in liability claims could be a potential long-term consequence.”
“As the biological effects of EMF in general and 5G in particular are still being debated, potential claims for health impairments may come with a long latency.”
N.B. This report also highlights substantial concerns over cyber security, privacy issues, national security and espionage – see our Cyber security page.