Torus survey foresees rate rises and new risks

The results of specialty insurer, Torus’s second annual survey of the management liability and professional lines market predicts that rate increases are on the cards for 2013.

Citing “poor loss experience in major classes coupled with increased exposures”, Jeffrey Grange, senior vice president, head of professional lines at Torus said that “2013 will be a challenging environment where coverage, limits and pricing are all on the table and actively re-negotiated at renewal”.

The Torus survey of 105 insurance professionals, including agents, brokers, insurers and risk managers, found that 87 percent of respondents believe management liability and professional lines rates will increase in 2013. 67 percent of respondents predicted rate rises of up to ten percent on 2012 levels, while a fifth of respondents indicated that price increases of more than 11 percent are on the cards for the coming year.

Professional liability and employment practices liability emerged as the leading lines predicted to experience rate increases in 2013 – with 32 percent and 31 percent of respondents respectively suggesting that such lines would experience price rises.

The survey also highlighted the rising threat posed by new media risks, particularly in the SME space. 58 percent of respondents predicted that requests for media liability policies to mitigate against social media risk would increase, with 16 percent predicting that there would be a “significant increase” in demand for such coverage in 2013.

Addressing the potential exposure to such risks, Christopher Cooper, assistant vice president, media products at Torus said: “as technology continues to increase the scope of exposures for SMEs utilising social media, insurers must mitigate the risks associated with the rapid proliferation and dissemination of such content.” The most significant risks identified by the survey were data leakage – 33 percent; dissemination of damaging content by employees – 27 percent; and increased personal injury exposure – 19 percent.