Marsh report shows tech companies switching insurers

More than one-third of technology companies have switched or are considering switching primary insurers this year in response to rate increases and capacity reductions, Marsh LLC said in a report Wednesday.

Some 54% of tech companies are increasing retentions and 38% reducing limits, Marsh said.

Tech companies are looking to take more control of their risks amid the economic slowdown, with 34% of the more than 300 risk leaders surveyed saying they are looking at alternative risk solutions.

Some 22% of them are considering captives and 18% moving toward pure catastrophic coverage, Marsh said.

Across seven key coverages for tech companies tracked by Marsh only workers compensation premiums are lower in 2022 than they were in 2012.

Cyber premiums have more than quadrupled for tech companies since 2012, and while D&O rates are starting to plateau, property rates have been rising in the last two years, Marsh said.

Persistent premium increases over the last decade have driven many tech firms to take more aggressive actions to preserve capital and protect their operations, the survey found.

Some 38% of risk leaders said they were switching or might switch primary insurer, compared with 25% last year and 24% in the 2021 survey when average rate increases were in the double digits.

The survey findings were based on responses from more than 300 risk leaders at tech companies across 29 countries.