London, 10 December 2013 - New research by Finaccord, a leading market research consultancy specialising in financial services, forecasts that the market for professional indemnity insurance across ten European countries - namely, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Switzerland and the UK - will be worth around EUR 7.5 billion by 2017. Finaccord has calculated that gross written premiums for this form of insurance amounted to around EUR 6.78 billion across the then countries in 2013, having grown from approximately EUR 6.15 billion in 2009. The UK is estimated to have the largest market, followed by Germany and France. Moreover, gross written premiums grew between 2009 and 2013 in all countries other than Spain

1. PRESS RELEASE
Professional Indemnity Insurance in Europe
New perspectives on a market forecast to be worth EUR 7.5 billion by 2017
London, 10 December 2013 - New research by Finaccord, a leading market research consultancy
specialising in financial services, forecasts that the market for professional indemnity insurance
across ten European countries - namely, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands,
Poland, Spain, Switzerland and the UK - will be worth around EUR 7.5 billion by 2017.
Finaccord has calculated that gross written premiums for this form of insurance amounted to around
EUR 6.78 billion across the then countries in 2013, having grown from approximately EUR 6.15
billion in 2009. The UK is estimated to have the largest market, followed by Germany and France.
Moreover, gross written premiums grew between 2009 and 2013 in all countries other than Spain.
“While the pricing of professional indemnity policies has been soft for several categories, including, for
example, accountancy and finance and legal services in most countries, other segments have seen
rapid growth in premiums” comments Bernd Bergmann, a consultant at Finaccord. “The cost of
negligence claims for medical specialists has been rising at an especially rapid rate in recent years
making medicine and dentistry (including hospitals) the fastest growing professional indemnity
insurance market in Europe between 2009 and 2013. In addition, the cover is being made
compulsory for an increasing number of professionals. The most notable example of this trend is Italy
where professional indemnity insurance is now being made obligatory for some important
professional categories, including architects and engineers.”
One of the main means by which enterprises acquire professional indemnity cover is via affinity
schemes set up by professional associations. As a part of its research, Finaccord surveyed 1,125
associations across Europe and found that 464 (41.2%) had established such a scheme. The
countries in which such schemes are most commonly in evidence are the UK (with a provision rate
among professional associations of 62.7%), Germany and Italy (50% each) while they are least
widespread in Poland (19%), Spain (32.2%) and the Netherlands (32.7%).
In terms of their revenues, Aon and Marsh are by far the largest commercial non-life insurance
brokers in Europe and Finaccord’s research indicates that they are also the leading brokers of affinity
programs for professional indemnity insurance in Europe in terms of their number of partnerships with
professional associations. However, their overall share of these partnerships is relatively low at
10.6% in the case of Aon (including its UNITA subsidiary in Germany) and 4.5% for Marsh.
Thereafter, affinity schemes are accounted for primarily by brokers with a focus on just one national
market.
“The generally fragmented picture among insurance providers confirms the specialised nature of
professional indemnity insurance. By necessity, many commercial insurance brokers are specialists
and professional associations are most likely choose brokers with a detailed understanding of the
particular risks faced by their members to run their affinity schemes” adds Bernd Bergmann.
Finaccord’s new report also predicts how the market will develop across 12 distinct professional
categories, namely: accountancy and finance; alternative medicine; architecture and engineering;
broadcasting and publishing; estate agency and property; financial and insurance intermediation;
healthcare-related services; IT and business consulting; legal services; marketing; medicine and
dentistry; and other professional sectors. Specifically, it anticipates growth across all 12 sectors
ranging from a low of 0.6% as a compound annual growth rate in the case of the broadcasting and
publishing segment to a high of 4.3% in the fields of both alternative medicine and IT and business
consulting.

2. “Growth in professional indemnity cover for some segments is highly correlated with trends in the
underlying number of insurable enterprises” concludes Bernd Bergmann. “While there are good
reasons to insure the liability risks of media professionals, this market is currently held back by the
stagnation or actual decline of the publishing sector. Given strong increases in the number of
insurable enterprises for both alternative medicine and IT and business consulting, growth for the
professional indemnity insurance market is expected to be especially strong for these two segments.”
--- END --Media contact: Roberto Napolitano, +44 (0)20 3008 4406, rnapolitano@finaccord.com.
Notes to editors:
Finaccord is a market research, publishing and consulting company specialising in financial services.
It provides its clients with insight into and information about major issues in financial services in the
UK, Europe and major global markets, with a particular focus on marketing and distribution topics
such as affinity marketing, bancassurance and strategic alliances.
Professional Indemnity Insurance in Europe, published in November, is about the market for and
distribution of policies covering professional liability as it exists in ten countries in Europe: Austria,
Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Switzerland and the UK. For 2009,
2013 and with a forecast for 2017, the study breaks down the market for professional indemnity
insurance not only by country but also, on a standardised basis, by professional category with 12
categories considered as follows: accountancy and finance; alternative medicine; architecture and
engineering; broadcasting and publishing; estate agency and property; financial and insurance
intermediation; healthcare-related services; IT and business consulting; legal services; marketing;
medicine and dentistry; and other professional sectors.
Sample graphic from the report, showing the percentage of professional associations surveyed in
each country with an affinity scheme for professional indemnity insurance.
Austria
36.3%
Belgium
45.6%
France
33.6%
Germany
50.0%
Italy
50.0%
Netherlands
32.7%
Poland
19.0%
Spain
32.2%
Switzerland
38.9%
UK
62.7%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%