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FEATURE: European liability insurers braced for claims

12 October 2009

D&O and E&O insurers in Europe expect to fare better than their American counterparts in the financial crisis. But the threat of increasing claims still looms.

Read more: casualty liablity D&O E&O subprime bernard madoff

After more than a year of plummeting share prices, widely-publicised defaults and international fraud scandals, liability insurers across Europe have plenty of reasons to worry. They may not expect to be hit as badly as their North American peers, but the same question will be on their minds: how much is it all going to cost?

So far, the much-anticipated surge of liability claims from the financial crisis has not materialised. But insurers across Europe have reported an increase in notifications, many of which are related to the crisis.

“There are figures being suggested by some insurers that they’re seeing up to three times the number of notifications,” says Adam Codrington, executive director in Aon’s directors’ and officers’ liability (D&O) team. “We are certainly seeing more notifications to D&O contracts on commercial accounts, but it’s an increase in frequency rather than severity at the moment.”


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What return on equity do you expect the reinsurance industry to make this year on average?

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If last year was the year of the cat, then this year could be the year of the debt crisis.

Mike Van Slooten, head of international market analysis at Aon Benfield