AIG Europe boss expects slowdown in insurance rate rises

LONDON (Reuters) – Insurance premium rates are likely to continue to climb in Europe, the Middle East and Africa in 2022, but probably at a slower clip, the chief executive of AIG Europe said at the Reuters Future of Insurance Europe conference on Friday.

“We’re going to continue to see rate rises across most of our product areas, not all but most, and that will continue and will probably continue at a reduced pace,” Thomas Lillelund said in an interview.

Cover against cyber attacks is one of the business lines likely to register the biggest increases, he said.

Insurance rates have been rising sharply as insurers have suffered hefty claims for issues such as floods and wildfires, cyber attacks and the cancellation of events due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Adrian Cox, the boss of Lloyd’s of London insurer Beazley, earlier told the conference there were some parts of the company’s portfolio where rate rises were tapering off, without giving further details.

For more on the Reuters Future of Insurance Europe conference, please click here

(Reporting by Carolyn Cohn and Noor Zainab Hussain; Editing by David Goodman and Susan Fenton)