Premiums earned by engineering insurers increased last year by 2%, or over $2 billion, as the German economic upturn generated an uptick in large-scale construction projects.
In a market environment otherwise characterised by sluggish growth in premiums and saturation of re/insurance capacity, providers of engineering cover have benefited from greater market demand.
The number of insurance policies for engineering risk rose from 4.4 to 4.6 million in 2016.
Friedrich Scholz, Vice Chairman of the German Insurance Association’s (GDV) Engineering Insurance Commission said; “The positive earnings situation of engineering insurers is mainly due to the continued economic upturn and Germany’s strong exports.
“Dealing with complex technologies and assessing risks is our daily business. We are only able to do this because a major part of the technology used around the world is being produced in Germany or by German companies – we benefit from that,” Scholz explained.
According to the International Association of Engineering Insurers (IMIA), global premiums earned for the industry last year amounted to €6.9 billion (US$8 billion).
Insured loses reached over €3.7 billion (US$4.3 billion), with most losses caused by human errors, material defects and fire.
