W&I Market Claims Study
An independent market-wide review of W&I claims from European insurers
2024 Edition
Our 2023 study was based on 10,162 policies from 16 insurers. The addition of 6 new insurers and the deal volume over the last 12 months has increased our data pool for the 2024 study to a total of 15,080 primary W&I policies, allowing us to refine our base data and report an increasingly accurate position on the claims market.
Key takeaways
Our data pool is growing, allowing us to refine our findings and provide an increasingly accurate picture of the W&I claims market. You can find some of the most interesting takeaways from this year’s study below. If you would like to access the whole study, please fill out the form below.
22 Insurers, 8 year lookback period, 15,080 policies
The eight-year lookback period across 22 insurers and 15,080 policies provides a comprehensive market view, supporting robust trend analysis, reliability in findings and confirmation on the ability to recover in the event of a claim.
11.64%
Out of 15,080 policies, insurers received claim notifications on 11.64% of policies, demonstrating a high level of sustained claims activity and reliance by insured parties across the lookback period.
4.32%
Out of 15,080 policies, 4.32% resulted in paid claims. That is a material number of payments on a product that responds to unknown and unforeseen risks, particularly as parties will have undertaken material diligence.
53.10%
Over half of closed claim notifications ultimately resulted in a successful claim, underscoring that notified claims have a reasonable likelihood of success.
72.56% of claims paid within 18 months
A significant portion of paid claims were settled within 18 months, demonstrating efficiency in the claims processing and payment timeline. 24.37% of claims are paid within 6 months of notification showing that insurers are in the business of paying good claims promptly.
63.95% of successful claims paid to PE buyers
Private equity buyers received 63.95% of successful claims payments, highlighting that PE clients remain active users and beneficiaries of W&I insurance.
49.67% of claims
W&I exists to protect against unknown and unforeseen risks. The basis of almost 50% of claims by definition couldn’t be discovered by due diligence. An insurance policy which reacts to such claims remains invaluable to mitigate risk.
1.85%
Subrogation against sellers following a claim is rare, occurring in just 1.85% of successful claims, suggesting limited recovery action by insurers post-payout.
Access the full study here
Our full Market Claims Study includes detailed findings, case studies and an article on calculating loss in W&I claims.
Videos
What are the new findings in the 2024 report?
How is the HWF Claims Study different from other claims reports?
How do this year’s findings compare to last year’s?
Calculating loss in W&I claims
What are the benefits of making a claim in an insured scenario?
How can HWF help when you make a claim?
HWF Team
If you would like to discuss this report or any claims related matter in further detail, please contact Alex Harding (Head of Claims), David Wall (Managing Director, Co-Head of Private Equity), or your usual HWF contact.
Alex Harding
David Wall
Adrian Furlonge
Rebecca Wynne
Rowley Higgs
Mark Parrett
David Layton
Yolanda Yong
Ieva Marcinkevičiūtė
Dr. Chrystian Poszwiński
Philipp Heer
Mark Hokamp
Alexander Cohen-Santi
Arianna Scocchera
Munal Mehta
Peter de Boisblanc
Access the full study here
Our full Market Claims Study includes detailed findings, case studies and an article on calculating loss in W&I claims.