Munich Re Sees Slight Increase in ’12 Renewal Rates

Munich Re AG, the world's largest reinsurer by premium income, expects rates for contracts up for renewal in January 2012 to go up slightly from 2011 levels, management board member Torsten Jeworrek said Sunday.

Source: Source: Dow Jones | Published on September 12, 2011

Rates will continue the trends seen in this year's contract renewals rounds, Jeworrek said at the company's annual press conference in Monte Carlo, which was webcast.

For instance, rates for reinsurance policies covering natural disasters, offshore energy and motor will see increases while rates in some other commercial and private business lines will remain flat, Jeworrek said.

Rates for policies covering natural disasters in the U.S. have recently increased by 10%, and Munich Re expects that to continue, Jeworrek said.
Traditionally, reinsurance policies for Europe and some parts of Asia are renewed Jan. 1, which is also the renewal date for most industrial companies.

Policies covering Japan and Korea are renewed April 1; and policies for parts of the U.S., Australia and Latin America are renewed July 1.

Aviation policies and some large industrial companies' policies, such as for Siemens AG and ThyssenKrupp are renewed Oct. 1.