A leading law firm has revealed the biggest trends the insurance industry will face over the coming year.
The Corporate Insurance Trends 2015 report from DLA Piper details a host of emerging trends which could shape the insurance industry both at home and abroad.
The list of trends features disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation, penalties and insurance, changes to professional liability and litigation surrounding natural disasters.
One trend that shows no sign of abating is cyber insurance as the team at DLA Piper continue to see an uptick in cyber activity.
“Our cyber team experts have considered the real and continuing risks associated with cyber breaches and the industry’s response to those risks,” the report states.
“The message continues to be that breaches are inevitable so organisations need to prepare. Cyber risk continues to present great opportunities for the industry.”
Nitesh Patel and Nicholas Boyle, both senior associates at DLA Piper write that they see a future were cyber insurance “will be as common as any other type of insurance,” but the industry and those that require cyber cover still need to catch-up.
“The risk of cyber-attacks and data breaches are here to stay for the long term and the same can be said for cyber insurance,” Patal and Boyle write.
“The world is trying to catch up with this relatively new breed of risks that it faces.”
On another major trend, senior associate at the firm, Natasha Stojanovich, and Melbourne-based partner, Kieran O’Brien, write that class action activity surrounding natural disasters gives insurers opportunities to work alongside Government to better educate consumers on the benefits of post-disaster redevelopment.
“In our view, the insurance industry must continue to lobby the Government to ensure that sensible guidelines on post-disaster redevelopment are in place, and that Government is willing to assist in legislation, funding and education around what constitutes sustainable redevelopment that is funded by insurance claims payouts.
“There is significant potential for insurers willing to drive product innovation in response to natural disasters particularly in the Asia Pacific region, as insurance is a critical component of reducing community vulnerability in this area.”
