Breeze has called on the battery supply chain to improve access to verified information, warning that data gaps are restricting insurance capacity and complicating claims as marine insurers gather for the International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) Annual Conference.
“Insurers are increasingly cautious about lithium battery risks, and some are restricting capacity or adding exclusions, not because the technology is uninsurable, but because the information needed for a serious risk assessment is often unavailable,” said Patrizia Kern-Ferretti, Chief Insurance Officer, Breeze.
From 18th February 2027, electric vehicle batteries, light means of transport batteries such as those in e-bikes, and industrial batteries with a capacity above two kilowatt hours placed on the European Union market or put into service must have an electronic record, known as a battery passport.
Breeze is calling on manufacturers, supply chain operatives, and standards bodies to agree terms for using battery management system data to enable earlier fault detection while protecting commercially sensitive information.
The business also backed the IUMI’s recommendations for the safe carriage of electric vehicles, including keeping the state of charge of batteries as low as practically and technically possible during transport to limit the risk of thermal runaway.
Breeze stressed the issue is not whether electric vehicles are inherently more dangerous, but whether insurers can access verified information about the risks they are being asked to cover. The IUMI notes that no fire onboard a car carrier has to date been found to be solely attributable to an electric vehicle.
“Lithium batteries can be insured, but transparency, truthful declarations, and clear chains of liability must become routine,” said Kern-Ferretti.
“Without workable transport insurance, there can be no resilient battery supply chain for the energy transition.”
The IUMI Annual Conference is taking place in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, from 20th September until 23rd September.
