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Health Solutions

Group Personal Accident Insurance

Accident insurance between pandemic, war and new work concepts.

Market situation

Premiums underwritten by insurers are expected to have increased very slightly to EUR 6.8bn by the end of 2022. This corresponds to an increase in premiums of EUR 1 million compared with the previous year. Meanwhile, loss expenses are expected to deteriorate by 2.0 per cent year-on-year to EUR 3.4bn. The combined ratio, however, remains unchanged at 56 per cent.1 Despite the fall in the number of holidays and business trips and the fact that many employees are working from home, combined ratios in personal accident insurance have thus remained unaffected by the pandemic.

At present, companies are making many enquiries about the current war events. The most common question is whether their accident insurance cover is affected and, if so, how. In this instance, the following applies: passive war risk is regulated in the insurance policy and covered in many cases. The extent of the insurance cover, however, depends on what has been agreed in the respective policy. As a rule, active participation in warfare remains excluded from insurance cover

Accident insurance is, and remains a lucrative line for insurers.

Outlook

Insurers’ underwriting philosophies have hardly changed. However, insurers are more willing to extend their T&Cs to offer customised insurance cover. As in previous years, we expect insurers to request restructuring only for policies severely affected by losses.

In the future, employer-funded accident insurance will remain a major incentive for employee retention and recruitment. In times of skilled labour shortages and “a war for talents”, additional benefits from employers are becoming increasingly important.

Market trends

Employees’ resilience, noticed by employers’ during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the now often applied hybrid work models, such as working-from-home arrangements with two days a week in the office, can reasonably be complemented by a 24-hour group accident insurance policy offering seamless coverage.

Because no distinctions are made with regard to gender or sexual orientation in the employer-funded group accident line, diversity, equity and inclusion are not an issue, either in terms of policy design or in relation to benefits.

There is increasing interest from global companies in international insurance programmes that provide uniform coverage centrally manageable for all employees. In the accident insurance line, the current inflation rate can be compensated for by adjusting the sums insured accordingly.

1) Projection of GDV’s direct business within Germany in property and casualty insurance as at 23 May 2022