Ground rules on cyber coverage need fundamental rethink, PartnerRe CEO

Reinsurers must hone their approach to the cybersegment with a closer look at terms and the minutiae of coverage to avoid eventual hard lessons in the fast-growing infant segment,  PartnerRe CEO Jacques Bonneau (pictured) told an S&P industry roundtable.

Cyber is one key segment where “it is not just about pricing,” Bonneau claimed. The industry should mull a change in underwriting and clear coverage restrictions in addition to “dramatic” price increases.

A rewriting of the ground rules or underlying structures should “make sure that insured, insurers and reinsurers all have an equitable amount of skin in the game” to better manage behavior and risk management practices, he said.

The black swan risk for the segment would be a repeat of what happened in 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic unveiled inconsistencies and much room for interpretation in the way in which contracts covered pandemic risk.

“This is a perfect business line for the next frontier event for finding out if the wording is clear enough to know what we are covering and what we are not,” Bonneau said.

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