UK cyber market drawing fresh capacity, letting pricing settle: WTW

The UK cyber market is drawing in fresh capacity from insurers, allowing the market to get a more granular view of client risks and balance out pricing, analysts at  Willis Towers Watson have claimed in a report.

“We are seeing an increasing number of insurers willing to increase their available capacity where the characteristics of the risk match their underwriting strategies,” analysts at WTW said in a quarterly market update.

“New insurance capacity has entered the wider market during Q2, with more likely to follow in Q3,” analysts wrote.

Capacity is said to be up in the lower layers up to the $50 million neighbourhood, particularly for the most attractive segments of the market, including security savvy middle-market firms.

Rate increases are said to be “far more variable than in recent quarters” as insurers get a better grip on pricing adequacy policy by policy and the market fills in gaps left during recent periods of more uncontrolled growth, analysts said.

Insurers remain focused on self-insured retentions, but WTW claims that for an increasing percentage of accounts renewing in Q2 2022, retentions are seen to be adequate.

The war in Ukraine has insurers on edge and risk-exposed clients, especially in telecommunications, financial institutions and critical national infrastructure, still face scrutiny. “It does seem that the level of concern is receding,” authors wrote.

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