Insurers balk at risks of phones
By Sarah Ryle, Consumer Affairs Correspondent, The London Observer Sunday April 11, 1999

The London market provides insurance for everything from aircraft to footballers' legs. But fears that mobile phones will be linked to illnesses such as cancer and Alzheimer's disease have prompted John Fenn, of underwriting group Stirling, to refuse to cover manufacturers against the risk of being sued if mobiles turn out to cause long-term damage.

New research published last week by Bristol University scientist Dr Alan Preece showed a 'highly significant' effect from mobile phone signals on brain function. The Government has ordered the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) - responsible for monitoring radiation safety standards - to set up an independent group to identify possible areas for research.

Liberal Democrat MP Phil Willis, who is pressing for a fuller parliamentary debate on the issue, condemned the initiative as 'a sop to the public and a sop to the industry'. He said: 'I have asked three network operators if they will give insurance against future health risk, and they have all said they cannot.'

According to Fenn: 'There are people in the insurance market who close their eyes to the issue because they say there is no scientific proof of a problem. If you go back to asbestos, it "wasn't a problem" at one time either.' Asbestos claims helped bring the Lloyd's market to its knees in the early 1990s.

Experts at the NRPB say they cannot give mobile phones a clean bill of health until comprehensive research has been carried out into the non-thermal effects of microwave radiation emitted by handsets.

Since the date of the report above, Loyds of London and at least two other large insurance companies, Scandanavian and Swiss, have also refused cover. Surprised? If you were the boss of a large insurance company answerable to shareholders, would you cover against risks that include both genetic effects leading to birth defects and paragenetic effects that include a range of cancers?