Many buyers secured improved terms and conditions, as well as rate reductions, for their reinsurance programs that renewed Jan. 1, but reinsurers rejected blanket changes to terms and conditions.

In many cases, sources said reinsurers did offer changes to hours or reinstatement clauses on a case-by-case basis.

A major feature of the just-completed reinsurance renewals was that most buyers were able to purchase customized “bespoke” contracts, said Nick Frankland, CEO of the Europe, Middle East and Africa operations of Guy Carpenter & Co. L.L.C.

Some market sources say one of the top three reinsurance brokerages, Aon Benfield, a unit of London-based Aon P.L.C., reportedly attempted to encourage a core group of reinsurers to make blanket changes to the terms and conditions offered to buyers.

But Bryon Ehrhart, CEO of Aon Benfield Americas in Chicago, said no such move took place and the brokerage asked reinsurers to consider changes case by case.

“We never asked people to do anything other than underwrite individual accounts,” he said.

He said say, however, that Aon Benfield did “remind” the reinsurance market that if it wished to differentiate itself from nontraditional capital that has flowed into the market, it needed to show its “value proposition” — not just by reducing rates, but by reducing rates in conjunction with improving terms and conditions.

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Catastrophe bonds, for example, he said, do not include hours clauses, which limit the time claims can be included as part of a loss arising from a triggering event.

This is an area where, by offering more favorable conditions, traditional reinsurers could seek to differentiate themselves from nontraditional capacity providers, Mr. Ehrhart said.

Similarly, while catastrophe bonds do not include reinstatements, an important differentiator of traditional coverage, they also do not charge reinstatement premiums, he said.

Aon Benfield asked reinsurers to differentiate themselves by, in many cases, making changes to the terms and conditions offered to buyers, he said, adding that the company made “material progress” on this front.

“We never expected universal moves,” he said. “This was done account by account.”

Changes to hours clauses and reinstatements were handled case by case, said James Vickers, chairman of Willis Re International, a reinsurance arm of Willis Group Holdings P.L.C., in London. But those alterations were not commonplace, and any attempt to introduce blanket changes to terms and conditions is “naïve,” he said.

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Terms and conditions should be tailored to buyers' exposures, Mr. Vickers said. If a buyer has significant exposure to events that may occur over a longer time, such as floods, then an extension of hours clauses would be deemed very valuable, he said. Whereas, for buyers whose exposures usually have shorter time frames, such as hurricanes, other terms and conditions may be more relevant, he said.

Typically, cedents primarily sought lower rates at the Jan. 1 renewals, said Guy Carpenter's Mr. Frankland. While there were some instances of widening of hours clauses, this was done in a “pretty disciplined way,” he said.

Brokers were able to obtain significant improvements in terms and conditions for buyers at the renewal, according to Mike Schnur, a partner at TigerRisk Partners L.L.P. in Chicago.

“We believe the improvements were driven by the new capital entering the market. We found the new capital willing to support some very innovative and creative solutions we proposed for our clients,” he said.

“Further, the traditional markets have now recognized that they, too, need to be willing to consider ideas and products they might not have previously supported,” Mr. Schnur said

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One reinsurance buying source, who asked not to be named, said that while buyers welcome improved terms and conditions, such changes need to be relevant to a buyer's exposures and, thus, blanket changes are not appropriate. Some buyers may prefer larger rate reductions over changes to terms and conditions, he said.

Most cedents “spend a significant amount of time crafting their contract wording to meet their specific needs,” said another reinsurance buying source, who also did not want to be identified. “They do not delegate that responsibility to the broker.”