PRICING: Fine for now with clouds on the horizon

Europe's biggest insurance buyers expect the soft market to continue in 2008 but believe the subprime crisis will hasten a stabilization and possibly hardening in 2009

THE MAJORITY OF Europe's insurance buyers believe the credit crunch will hit insurers and reinsurers but not that badly.

Well over half of the insurance buyers polled by Business Insurance Europe from the BIE 100 group of Europe's biggest listed companies believe that business insurance rates will continue to soften in 2008.

This bullish outlook comes despite the fact that the insurance market is bracing itself for the fall-out from the ongoing market volatility caused by the sub-prime crisis in the United States, and subsequent global credit crunch.

Some 58% of respondents... For the full article click here to download the digital edition of the BIE 100 Risk Manager Survey 2008