This update analyses our observations of the current Crime insurance market conditions and is based our observations of the market with our WTW clients and not a whole of market review. For ease of understanding, the percentages have been presented as rounded figures.
We continue to see increased interest from underwriters to look at Crime insurance to expand their relationships with valued clients and increase premium revenue. However, this has not translated into the same rate of discount in premiums our clients have had in their Crime insurance renewals compared to Commercial D&O. Similarly, retentions have not seen significant reductions.
Insurers have also continued to soften policy terms and are increasingly willing to underwrite business using WTW’s internally designed Crime insurance wording (CRIMEstar), a new version of which was launched in 2024. We are also seeing an increase in long term agreements being used in Crime renewals and an increase in interest in Crime insurance from clients based in Europe.
Notifications in 2024 have slightly increased compared to 2023, but are still at very low levels, representing a decrease of 75% compared to the peak seen in 2017 (see chart 3 below).
Whole Tower median rates on line presented a peak in February 2024 and a minimum in September 2024, compared to a peak in May and a minimum in October in 2023. The 6-month rolling average shows a similar movement compared to the previous year, with an increase in February, relatively steady rates until July and a significant decrease in August.
At renewal in Q1, Q2 and Q3 2024, most of our client saw decreases in their ROL, whereas in Q4 most of our clients saw their rates renewing flat, as below:
WTW’s internal data indicates that, despite a slight increase in 2024 compared to the previous year, notifications to Crime policies by our clients continue to be significantly down compared to the highs of 2017-2019:
If we analyse the claims in more detail, we can see from Chart 4 below that the largest number of claims continue to be employee theft/dishonesty. While Social Engineering is a significant contributor, it is not anywhere near the scale of employee theft/dishonesty. However, it is interesting to note that if we look at notifications for Crime in Global placements in Chart 5 below, Social Engineering appears to be much more significant.
Source: WTW client notifications from GB placements only, between 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2024
Source: WTW client notifications between 1 January 2007 to March 2025
| Min | Max | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rate on Line | 0.01% Rate on Line | No max | These graphs and stats are looking at the Rates on Line paid each month. Currently we only have a minimum value for Rate on Line, we could consider having a max Rate on Line. |
| Rate on Line change | 0.01% Rate on Line x -10 | No max Rate on Line x50 | We are comparing the Rate on Line paid last year for a given client at renewal. The outlier rule ensures an erroneously small Rate on Line isn’t compared to a normal one resulting in a gigantic value (eg 1% / 0.0001% = 10,000 times increase). We could also add a maximum increase cap, eg no more than a 10 fold increase in Rate on Line |
| Deductible change | x - 10 | x 50 | As above, here we are comparing the deductible last year to the deductible this year for a given client at renewal. Given the hugely different sizes of programs placed it is difficult to set a min or max for the actual deductible value so instead we have tied the rules to the change in deductible seen. A max increase of x50 was set as the previous x20 was seen as too small. This may want to be reviewed |
| Limit | 0.01% Rate on Line | No max | Again, it is difficult to set a min for limit value due to the spread of clients we have. Given the Rate on Line value combines premium with limit it can be used to identify an error in one of the two. However, it could result in us excluding placements with correct limit values (and incorrect premiums). We could consider adding minimum and maximum limit values instead |
| Limit change | x - 10 | x 50 | Similarly to deductible change, here we are comparing the limit bought this year for a given client at renewal. Given the challenge in settling min and max limit criteria the outlier rule looks at the calculated limit change and sets boundaries for that. A max increase of x50 was set as the previous x20 was seen as to small. This may want to be reviewed |
Figures in this report are based on WTW FINEX FINMAR client placements, sourced as 2 April 2025, and WTW client notifications from GB placements only, between 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2024. They will be updated periodically to reflect additional records. Graphs in this report show the moving average between 2022 and 2024.
