UK Commercial Property Insurance 2009: Industry Report

UK Commercial Property Insurance 2009

Product Type: Market Research Report
Published by: Datamonitor
Published: October 2009
Product Code: R313-56703

Description

Introduction

This report provides a detailed analysis of the UK commercial property insurance market. It looks at the size of the market, performance ratios, claims costs, key issues and distribution trends. It also assesses the competitive landscape providing market share information and forecasts the total market GWP up to and including 2013.

Scope

An examination of market size, growth and profitability.
Analysis of the key drivers of claims inflation.
Market share and combined ratio data for the largest commercial property insurers.
Forecasts of market size and profitability to 2013.

Highlights

The market peaked in terms of premium growth rates in 2002 and thereafter growth rates declined moving into negative territory in 2005. Between 2005 and 2007 the market contracted before seeing growth for the first time in several years in 2008, as insurers put through small rate increases. In 2008 the market was worth £4.3 billion.

Analysis of gross incurred claims for the period to H1 2009 indicates that claims costs have been fairly benign for the first half of 2009 which bodes well for the sector. Gross incurred claims totaled £737m for H1 2009 which compares to £757m for H1 2008 and represents a fall of 2.6%.

Industry executives believe that the issue of players seeking market share for new business will hamper any renewal rate increase in the immediate future.

Reasons to Purchase

Understand the direction in which the commercial property insurance market is moving in terms of premium rates, profitability and future claims.
Assess the market share of the major distribution channels, the key players and the latest competitor developments.
Gain insight into the views and opinions of some of the leading industry executives.

Table of Contents

Overview: Catalyst; Summary; Executive Summary; The market grew slightly as insurers put through small rate increases; The market was worth £4.3 billion 2008; Commercial property insurers suffered from a high COR in 2008, net of reserve releases; The sector made a profit after the effects of reserve releases; 2009 has been a benign year for claims costs so far; 2009 is shaping up to be another benign year for claims costs; Large national brokers continue to dominate commercial insurance distribution; Independent insurance intermediaries of all types retained their majority market share in 2008; Allchurches and Travelers both gained market share; Allchurches experienced a 0.5 percentage points growth in its market share to 4.4% of the commercial property market; Travelers witnessed a significant 14% growth in GWP; Aviva, RSA, Zurich, AXA and Allianz continue to hold the top 5 market positions; Aviva was the market leader in 2008; Zurich retained its third place ranking; AXA experienced a 4.1% decline in GWP, taking its market share to 11.1% in 2008; Allianz's market share for 2008 was 7.2%, making it the fifth largest player; ACE was the ninth largest commercial property insurer in 2008; Underwriting losses will decrease as the market hardens; The commercial property market is predicted to be worth £5.9 billion by 2013; Table of Contents; Table of figures; Table of tables; Market Context; Introduction; The market grew slightly as insurers put through small rate increases; The market was worth £4.3 billion 2008; In terms of real growth, the market contracted by 2.1% in 2008; Commercial property insurers suffered from a high COR in 2008, net of reserve releases; The sector made a profit after the effects of reserve releases; The COR, excluding reserve releases, reached 115% in 2008; Reserve releases expanded significantly throughout 2008; Commercial property insurers made sizeable reserve releases in 2008, higher than 2007 levels; 2009 has been a benign year for claims costs so far; 2009 is shaping up to be another benign year for claims costs; Commercial property claims costs resulting from fire and theft increased in 2008; The AXA Business Crime Index has shown a marked increase of recessionary crime; More than half of total claims costs in commercial property arose from fires in 2008; Modern methods of construction, amongst other things, have lead to the increase in fire losses; The 'Approved Document B (Fire safety)' has been one of few steps in recent years to mitigate fire risks; Automatic fire protection systems that generate false alarms may prompt higher premiums; Weather related commercial property claims decreased significantly in 2008; Business interruption claims costs following fire grew by 21.7% in 2008; The cost of commercial property insurance theft claims increased marginally in 2008; The average value of a theft claim increased to £4,515 in 2008 from £4,223; Insurers are pressuring the government for improvements in flood defenses; The 2007 floods were a catalyst for insurers seeking government assistance to limit flood risk exposure; The Draft Floods and Water Management Bill has been warmly welcomed by the industry; The 2009 Budget commitments showed some signs of the government listening to the insurance industry; The UK Climate Projections provides valuable information and data about climate change; The Ordinance Survey's data-rich resources are also of much use to the insurance industry; However, insurers still feel that the government should spend more on flood defenses; There is a risk that the Statement of Principles will not be renewed unless more government action is taken; Distribution; Introduction; Large national brokers continue to dominate commercial insurance distribution; Independent insurance intermediaries of all types retained their majority market share in 2008; Electronic distribution is gathering pace and insurers believe that it will become more prevalent; Direct players account for a small but growing portion of the commercial general insurance market; Corporate partnerships have maintained only a small presence in the commercial insurance market; Banks and building societies distribute negligible amounts of commercial general insurance; 30% of SMEs would consider purchasing their insurance policy from a bank or building society; Brokers remained the dominant distribution channel to target SMEs in H1 2008; Competitive Dynamics; Introduction; Allchurches and Travelers both gained market share; Allchurches experienced a 0.5 percentage points growth in its market share to 4.4% of the commercial property market; Travelers witnessed a significant 14% growth in GWP; Aviva, RSA, Zurich, AXA and Allianz continue to hold the top 5 market positions; Aviva was the market leader in 2008; Zurich retained its third place ranking; AXA experienced a 4.1% decline in GWP, taking its market share to 11.1% in 2008; Allianz's market share for 2008 was 7.2%, making it the fifth largest player; ACE was the ninth largest commercial property insurer in 2008; Travelers, Zurich, RBS, Allianz and Aviva beat the market average COR, after allowing for reserve releases; Acquisitions by brokers continued, albeit at a slower pace than previous years; AXA has continued to increase its presence in the UK commercial insurance market through its broking arm Bluefin; Giles acquired numerous commercial brokers in 2008; Oval completed 12 acquisitions in the 12 months to June 2008; Cullum Capital Ventures continued with its acquisition strategy in 2008 and 2009; JLT acquired Ingham Underwriting; Future Decoded; Introduction; Underwriting losses will decrease as the market hardens; The market will grow slowly in 2009 and harden significantly thereafter; The commercial property market is predicted to be worth £5.9 billion by 2013; Losses, net of reserve releases, will fall as the market hardens
APPENDIX: Definitions; ABI members; Accident year combined ratio; Brokers; Earned premiums; Gross premiums; Net premium; Reported year combined ratio; Prior years' reserve development; Written premiums; Further reading; Ask the analyst; Datamonitor consulting; Disclaimer
List of Tables: Table 1: Total commercial property insurance GWP, 1995-2008 (£m); Table 2: Commercial property premium real growth rates and average inflation, 1996-2008 (%); Table 3: Commercial property underwriting profit/loss, 1998-2008 (£m); Table 4: Accident year CORs for total property insurance and commercial property insurance, 2005-08 (%); Table 5: Accident and reported year COR, underwriting results and reserve developments, commercial property insurance market, 2005-08 (%); Table 6: Gross incurred commercial property insurance claims by peril, H1 2008-09 (£m); Table 7: Gross incurred commercial property insurance claims by peril, 2004-08 (£m); Table 8: Proportion of gross incurred commercial property insurance claims by peril, 2004-08 (%); Table 9: Commercial property insurance weather claims costs, 2004-2008 (£m); Table 10: Cost of business interruption claims by cause, 2004-08 (£m); Table 11: Total cost of commercial property insurance theft claims, 2004-08 (£m); Table 12: Volume and average value of property theft claims, 2004-08; Table 13: Market share of distribution channels in the commercial general insurance market, 2004-08 (%); Table 14: GWP and market share of the top 10 UK commercial property insurance groups, 2007-08; Table 15: Reported year combined ratio and underwriting profit/loss for the top 10 commercial property insurance groups, 2008; Table 16: Key variables affecting GWP, 2009f-13f; Table 17: Forecast of UK commercial property insurance market GWP, 2009-13f; Table 18: Forecast of accident year COR, commercial property insurance market, 2009-13f (%)
List of Figures: Figure 1: The sector reported an underwriting profit in 2008; however, this was only made possible by releases of prior years' reserves; Figure 2: 2008 was the first time the market experienced positive premium growth since 2004; Figure 3: Strong competition within the market has kept real premium growth negative since 2005; Figure 4: The sector reported an underwriting profit in 2008; however, this was only made possible by releases of prior years' reserves; Figure 5: The COR, net of reserve releases for commercial property insurance, reached 115% in 2008; Figure 6: In 2008, there was significant reserve release in order to improve the reported year COR; Figure 7: H1 2009 claims costs are slightly lower than H1 2008; Figure 8: Claims arising from fire and explosions following fires increased the most in 2008; Figure 9: Fire claims accounted for the largest claims bill in the commercial property insurance market; Figure 10: Weather claims costs declined dramatically in 2008; Figure 11: Weather-related business interruption claims costs fell in 2008 while fire-related business interruption costs increased; Figure 12: Commercial property theft claims reached a value of £175m in 2008; Figure 13: The number of theft claims increased significantly in 2008; Figure 14: UKCP09 is a readily available source of information about various aspects of UK climate change; Figure 15: Brokers still remain the dominant route to market for commercial insurers in the UK; Figure 16: 82% of SMEs purchase their commercial insurance through brokers; Figure 17: Travelers and Allchurches gained market share in 2008; Figure 18: Travelers, Zurich, RBS, Allianz and Aviva beat the market average COR, after allowing for prior years' reserve releases; Figure 19: Premium rates increases will occur in order to improve the underwriting profitability of insurers; Figure 20: The COR for the commercial property market will decline throughout the forecast period

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