German cyber buyers prefer stability over cyclical swings
Softer market welcome but long-term partnership is key
Katrin Zylla-Meyer, manager of corporate insurances at Hanseatic Versicherungsdienst GmbH, the in-house broker of Hamburg-based retail multinational Otto Group, told Commercial Risk Europe that German cyber insurance buyers welcome the recent market softening but prefer stability over the big swings in pricing and capacity.
In an interview after she took part in a panel discussion at the GVNW’s recent annual symposium in Munich, Zylla-Meyer said that clearly German insurance managers will take advantage of the much-improved terms and conditions on offer currently, particularly as they follow such a tough market between 2018 and 2022.
She said that insurers should understand the desire among insurance buyers for pay-back after the pain of the market hardening. But Zylla-Meyer added that she and fellow members of the GVNW would prefer a less cyclical market with more stability and true long-term partnership.
“Our overall core message was that brokers and insureds should not push for too aggressive premium reductions during soft market phases in order to avoid significant premium increases or declining capacities during the next hard market phase,” she said.
“In this context, I prefer sustainable rates over extreme price fluctuations. But since the rates are dropping, and also considering the economic situation for companies in today’s environment, we expect our carriers to support us during the soft market, with premium reductions such as we supported them in the hard market phase,” added Zylla-Meyer.
She also said that premium is not the only relevant factor when placing cover, and stressed the importance of partnerships with insurers. “If the quotes from the existing carriers are too far away from the market, we will replace them. Nevertheless, our preference is a stable panel and a long-term relationship with the carrier,” she said.
Zylla-Meyer added that the overall cyber market is more competitive now but pointed out there is still a relative lack of competition in the primary space. “That underlines the fact that – besides other factors – we are also looking for competitive pricing,” she said.
