Hiscox wraps up London Market redo; set for premium growth in 2023

Hiscox will return to viable premium growth in its London Market business after having completed a multi-year re-underwriting of the book, top officials have declared.

“We've completed our major re-underwriting and the business will grow in 2023,” Hiscox CEO Aki Hussain (pictured) told his company's Q4 earnings call.

“The London Market portfolio is in very good shape and with a continued favourable market backdrop, I expect the London Market business will grow in 2023.”

For now, market conditions seem set to support the growth agenda.

Rates for the London market business were up 6% in 2022 with rate growth holding “positive” for all classes except D&O which Hiscox claims is “already attractively priced”.

The unit has recorded “continued positive momentum” in January 2023, “particularly for property and terrorism.” The unit is showing growth to date in Q1, Hussain said.

For 2022, Hiscox ended with a 4.8% decline in gross written premium to $1.1 billion, with 3.3 percentage points of the decline following planned reductions in the property binder portfolios and the impact of Russian sanctions, management said.

“In 2022 our growth was tempered as we continued to trade out of under-priced cat risks,” Hussain said of the move.

Flood growth was also dampened as Hiscox was put off by price changes in the US National Flood Insurance Programme (NFIP). “We expect competitive dynamics to improve following Hurricane Ian and as the demand for a flood specific product continues to grow in the US market given recent events,” management countered.

The Hiscox London Market division upped underwriting profits 22.8% to $110 million alongside a 4.3 point drop in the combined ratio to 84.8% despite a $40 million net loss from Hurricane Ian and $34 million net loss from the Russia/Ukraine conflict.

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