For British businesses concerned that May's election could trigger big swings in sterling, the cost of protection has surged in the past month - and any protracted talks on forming a coalition government could push it higher still. Sterling hit a five-year low against the dollar this week while the price of currency options expiring immediately after the May 7 vote hit multi-year highs.
Meanwhile, banks are already marking up charges for contracts covering the weeks and months that follow in anticipation of a lengthy period of political horse-trading.
Yet data shows many investors are still largely unprotected against any post-election turmoil, and analysts say this could prompt a rush to seek protection as the vote nears.
"The market still seems too complacent," said Steve Barrow, head of G10 currency research at Standard Bank.
"You've got to be defensive three to four weeks subsequent to the elections. I think markets will tend to anticipate that as we get closer to the time."
Opinion polls show the ruling Conservatives and the main opposition Labour Party neck-and-neck before the May 7 vote, with Scottish nationalists likely to be the third-biggest party in the Westminster parliament.
That makes it likely that there will be a hung parliament, in which no party wins overall control, while ideological differences could prolong talks to form a government or even lead to a second election.
A parliamentary committee paper published last month warned it would take longer to form a coalition government or an informal arrangement in which smaller parties offer support on certain issues than after the last election, in 2010.
Barclays strategist Hamish Pepper said these expectations were not reflected in the price of some options, which can be used to "hedge" exposure to a currency or to bet on it rising or falling.
For instance, options that cover sterling volatility over the next three months are currently more expensive than they were before Scotland's independence referendum in 2014, but around the same as before the 2010 election.
"We think there is still room for options prices to move higher as people begin to concentrate more and more on this prospect of a prolonged coalition negotiation process," Pepper said.
Barclays' analysis of trading around the time of the Scottish referendum shows that the currency can become sensitive to a rise in the cost of volatility protection, creating a vicious circle.
Speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, traders at major banks said they had been marking up their prices for these longer-dated options to try to dissuade investors from buying them. They too expect sterling to suffer around the elections and do not want to be on the other side of the trade.
Since 1997, the pound has sold off in the two weeks before elections, with the moves becoming more pronounced with each subsequent ballot, analysis from Standard Chartered showed.
In 2010, the pound lost more than 9 percent against the dollar two weeks before the election, and a further 6 percent in the two weeks after it.
But back then, with a coalition formed within five days, the market rebounded fairly quickly.
Things are more complicated this time, with a wider mix of parties potentially involved in negotiations, many of which are split on certain issues, such as the Conservatives' pledge to hold a referendum on EU membership.
Even with options out to one year trading at levels not seen since global markets were rocked by the euro zone crisis in 2012, some banks say they still look cheap.
These contracts would also cover potential shocks to sterling from a US interest rate rise this year.
Yet some say market fears are overdone.
"Having gone through it once and it taking five days that has slightly set a new expectation that the sky doesn't fall in if it takes a few days or even a bit longer. Before 2010 even five days was exceptional," said Akash Paun, a fellow at the Institute for Government.
Parties have around three weeks for negotiations between the election results and May 27, when Queen Elizabeth is due to set out a legislative agenda prepared by the new government.
After as many as five days of debate, a parliamentary vote on the programme will test the government's strength.
If lawmakers reject the programme, opposition parties would be given a chance to try to form a government that could win the confidence of parliament. A second failure would likely lead to new elections.
The further down that road the electoral process travels, and the more investors rush to cover their exposure, the weaker the pound may become, analysts warn.
"The permutations priced into the market have been done with rosy-tinted glasses," said Standard Bank's Barrow.
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