Liability 2.0: Topics and Trends

Participants will analyse a range of liability risks as well as estimate and determine Liability insurance requirements for a number of use cases. Particular attention will be paid to special Liability extensions such as gradual cover for Environmental Liability risks, Product Recall and Tampering, International Liability programmes, and Cyber Risks.

The course is designed to equip participants with the knowledge to respond to rapid developments in liability cover and to design innovative and profitable underwriting programmes accordingly.

Participants should already have a good understanding of the principles of GTPL and PI liability and at least 5 years' experience working as either an underwriter or loss adjuster. They should already be able to draft a Liability insurance program with basic terms and conditions for small- or medium-sized companies. 

The entire programme is conducted in English. Participants must therefore be able to communicate fully in the language. 

Swiss Re Institute reserves the right to postpone applications from candidates not yet fulfilling the above prerequisites.

• Cyber Risks (Risk Management, coverages, incl. silent cyber covers, claims experience and accumulation risks)
• Forward looking modelling in Liability
• Public and products Liability insurance (incl. international programs/umbrella insurance covers)
• Specialties regarding US/CDN-business 
• Environmental Impairment Liability (EIL)
• Products Recall and Products Tampering
• Director's and Officer's Liability
• Medical Malpractice for doctors/hospitals
• Food safety
• Hot topics, i.e. ‘Emerging Risks’

The event may be photographed, videotaped, filmed and /or digitally recorded. You consent to Swiss Re's use, free of charge, of any memorialization of the event in which you may appear for any Swiss Re publication or promotional purpose.

Introduction to the course

Cyber Risks (part 1)

Introduction to Cyber
In this session, we will seek to define the notion of cyber risk and to establish its place in the wider context of the digitalisation of the global economy. We will also review the nature of specific cyber attacks and the threats that they pose before going on to consider possible insurance solutions.

Cyber Risk Assessment
In the rapidly changing cyber risk landscape, it takes all stakeholders to mount a successful defence against attack. We will look at the role that Reinsurers can play; examine options to mitigate risk; and consider the tools that we can employ in a cyber risk assessment in order to develop a cohesive security strategy. 

Cyber Risks, (afternoon): 

Coverage, including silent Cyber
In this session we will examine the type of cyber coverage currently available including common cyber affirmative covers and common exclusions as well as newer trends. We will also look at the problem of silent cyber risk, which unless explicitly excluded, is often covered by traditional insurance policies. We will apply this knowledge to the case study of a recent data breach before closing the session with a silent cyber quiz, where participants will discover what is and what is not covered in traditional property/liability policies.    
  

Claims experience
After a short introduction to General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), we will review some of the latest developments in European privacy law and consider their impact on cyber cover. We will go on to look at some recent examples of cyber claims and ask how to qualify a "cyber" event. This will lead us on to a study of data breach claims and ransomware as a type of extortion. We will close the session with some key findings for underwriters, followed by an outlook and some conclusions.

Cyber Accumulation 
Cyber accumulation – often called cyber systemic risk – presents the largest challenge to the cyber insurance industry. A proper accumulation control, either based on deterministic scenarios or a full probabilistic calculation, is a necessity to define the required capital base. We will show in our presentation the different approaches that we take at Swiss Re to quantify first-party and third-party cyber risk.

Forward Looking Modelling in Liability and liability risk drivers
In this session, we will examine the difference between predictive models and forward looking models (FLM) in Casualty. We will review the importance of scenarios in FLM and consider some of the most important liability risk drivers (LRDs) which increase or decrease risk. We will conclude by building your own FLM using appropriate scenarios.

Directors' & Officers' (D&O) Liability, (afternoon)
Corporations are facing an ever-increasing array of risks ranging from cyber-attack to supply-chain disruption and from shareholder lawsuits to regulatory investigations. Although often difficult to foresee, board members can find themselves personally accountable for any financial losses arising from such risks. Directors & Officers Liability Insurance (D&O) helps ease this burden by offering cover to mitigate against losses and freeing up senior executives to focus on what they do best - leading their corporations. We will review legal structures and examine the basic elements that determine liability exposures and the associated covers that are available. Participants will gain insights into underwriting principles, coupled with key market developments and current typical claims scenarios. 

City walk and dinner

US specialties in Liability: Commercial General Liability (CGL)
This session focuses on the specifics of US Liability including the case law system, juries, the contingency fee system, class actions, punitive damages, deep pocket and social inflation (a very current issue worldwide and in particular in the US). We also look at some of the emerging risks/ challenges facing the US market. We also explain which points shall be considered regarding US exports from abroad.

International programmes/Umbrella covers, (afternoon)
What is a global liability programme? Which are the most common structures and when should each one be used? Do special features found in global programmes increase cover/exposure? As well as the answers to these questions, we will examine the differences between Global Liability Programmes (integrated/coordinated) and Excess Global Liability Programmes and what DIC (Difference in Conditions) /reversed DIC, DIL (Difference in Limits) and Drop Down means for insurers.

Product Recall and Product Tampering, (morning)
This session provides an overview on risks transfer solutions and, based on a case study, gives insights into how to underwrite this line of business profitably. 

Environmental Impairment Liability (afternoon)
Increased awareness about environmental matters is leading to changes in the liability landscape and the need for risk transfer solutions. This session covers Environmental and Pollution Liability exposures and, based on a case study, shows how these exposures can be underwritten.

Food Safety, (morning)
Food Safety Risks are defined by the product itself, the product exposure and by the consumers. We look at some of the evolving trends in the food industry, including "nutraceuticals", which occupy a grey zone between food and drugs and other functional food and beverages. In addition, we examine the various parties that make up the food supply chain and consider some of the evolving challenges currently threatening that chain.

Emerging Risks, (morning)
To conclude this programme, we look beyond the horizon to consider new risks that could plague underwriters in the future. We lift the lid on Swiss Re's own emerging risks review process and offer for analysis Swiss Re Institute's SONAR report, in which we share EMRIs data with clients and partners. Within this SONAR report our specialists list EMRI themes by potential impact and timeframe.  

Award Ceremony and Farewell Lunch