Liverpool 2015: Book your workshops now!

The Airmic annual conference in Liverpool is shaping up to be an exciting event. Delegate places are fast being snapped up and last month the association announced a strong line-up of keynote speakers with businesswoman Baroness Karren Brady and behavioural economist Tim Harford opening and closing the event.

There is a full and varied workshop agenda during the conference and over the next three months Airmic News will be previewing the sessions on offer. To get the most out of the conference, it is strongly recommended that you book your workshop places as soon as possible.

The following workshops will take place on Monday 15 June.

 A1: Reservation of Rights

The workshop is intended to give risk managers and insurance buyers an overview of the insurance policy, and the legal implications of a Reservation of Rights.  We will explore what a Reservation of Rights letter means in a practical context and discuss strategies that allow these situations to be managed in a collaborative way and to the satisfaction of all involved.

 In broad terms, the following topics will be covered in a presentation format with encouragement of participant interaction:

1. What is a Reservation of Rights
2. When and how insurers should use the Reservation of Rights language
3. What are the implications to policyholders when their insurer is holding a Reservation of Rights
4. What can policyholders do to avoid the need for insurers to use Reservation of Rights language
5. In the event that insurers do reserve their rights, how can the situation best be resolved
6. Globalisation – impact and use of Reservation of Rights in other jurisdictions

Having gained an understanding of Reservation of Rights, break-out groups will be set tasks that seek to apply what has been learned to a real-life situation:

• Review of real-life situation
• Sharing experiences others may have seen

Presented by Chubb

A2: Cyber and D&O

The cost of UK cyber-crime is estimated to be in the region of £27 billion a year. Last year, a study by EY, found that 37% of global businesses surveyed were unprepared for a cyber-attack, meaning that more than a third of businesses are in breach of their duties. These are worrying statistics.

In the US, the recent Sony Pictures hack exposes how potentially vulnerable Directors are to cyber-related claims. US shareholders are now increasingly suing directors of businesses which have suffered data breaches and regulators are ramping up investigations of board-level data governance activities. UK businesses are anticipating that this trend will cross the Atlantic. There is also the new European Data Protection Regulation, likely to be adopted in May this year, which will see much stricter sanctions imposed on businesses with data breaches. Whenever the legislation does come into effect, it will be a complete game changer in terms of the responsibilities businesses in the UK will have around data protection

UK companies need to recognise the risk of cyber-related directors’ and officers’ (D&O) liability claims. With the increased risk and costs associated with cyber-crime and data breaches alongside a growing reliance on technology, we will examine what businesses can do to protect themselves against these emerging risks.

Our interactive workshop will cover:

• Gaps in existing coverage;
• What cyber policies cover;
• How you can fill the gaps not covered on your D&O policy.

Presented by QBE

A3: Recent trends in the cyber insurance market

Technology, economic growth, climate change, societal change and the fast developing legal and regulatory framework are all affecting risk and making insurance claims more challenging, particularly with the increasing number of intangible risks such as loss to reputation and supply chain damage.

For property casualty insurance and claims, rising natural catastrophe exposures and climate change, the increasing complexity and interconnectivity of risks, especially for BI, and the growing importance of cyber threats will be among the most relevant emerging risk trends to watch.

Aggregation of risk is a major issue for cyber risks and one of the big challenges for the insurance industry. A single virus or network infrastructure blackout could potentially affect whole sectors or many companies across sectors. Nigel Pearson, global head of Fidelity at Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty, will talk about the latest developments in the dynamic cyber insurance market.

Presented by Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty

A4: Balance Sheet Protection – Come Rain or Shine

The role of today’s Risk Manager continues to evolve on a daily basis, with a greater emphasis being placed upon balance sheet protection and not simply through operational risk management. Tools to assist the modern day risk manager in facing this challenge are, as a result, ever more valuable. Parametric Insurance is one such tool and while this mechanism has been around for some time, and is primarily used in relation to weather risks, recent advancements in technology have greatly increased the breadth of its application.

This interactive workshop is designed to:

• Provide a brief introduction to parametric insurance
• Brief Overview of existing parametric insurance solutions and applications
• Discuss technological progress in the parametric insurance field, including new and more granular data and new capabilities
• Demonstrate how satellite data can be used in pricing and to trigger a claims payment
• Investigate and discuss: 

1. Parameters (other than climate) that could be used
2. How parametric insurance could help your own organisation

Presented by AXA Corporate Solutions

A5: How to implement and impress the board with a ‘dynamic’ risk register

Tasked by the board to deliver robust and sustainable corporate and project risk registers, one of our major clients has implemented Webrisk to support their project and programme risk management.

The key objectives were to automate procedures, add flexibility and scalability, drive efficiency, enhance data/information integrity, and deliver this in a live ‘dynamic’ environment.

In this case study we will show how the risk manager has met these objectives using the power of an integrated database and workflow solution. Together with our client we will take risk managers through and explain:-

• The board’s challenge to the risk manager
• The delivered solution
• The benefits to all stakeholders

This session will enable risk managers to evaluate how they can leverage this experience within their own organisation.

Presented by Effisoft

A6: Claims, Liabilities, Trends and Solutions: will new Government policies be good for you?

The Coalition Government implemented significant change to the law relating to liability and to the civil legal process during its five year term. Coupled with that new entrants to the legal market added to claimant capacity. BLM experts will consider the impact of those changes and the (unintended) consequences, the agenda and objectives of a new Government, claims trends and benchmarks, whiplash and the new whiplash (deafness), the impact of private equity and whether fraud will be contained. Are these “blips” or “trends”? And how Airmic members should manage the risks of claims.

Presented by BLM

A7: Risk Management and Business Success: medical and security challenges to resilience

Resilience is needed in a growing uncertain world. The ability to manage effectively the organisations’ footprint, supply chain and market presence (social media, branding, reputation) is increasingly challenging. Risk management is even more challenged but needed in order to properly support business success. Business success requires the right level of risk-taking attitude and entrepreneurial mind-set – hence the need for an absolute capability to manage downside risks and potential disruptive scenarios. We will take the example of critical exposures such as medical and security-related case studies to explore how risk-managed organisations can improve their business resilience and success.

Presented by International SOS

A8: Preparing for the new Insurance Act

Essential workshop for all risk and insurance managers to prepare for the new Insurance Bill due to be enacted in Spring 2015 and ensure your organisation is ready to benefit from the changes in the law. 

The session will cover:

• Timeline for the new law coming into force
• Key issues:

1. Duty of disclosure –v– new duty of fair presentation: how to prepare for a reasonable search
2. Warranties and basis clauses – the new landscape
3. Update on damages for late payment of claims

• Contracting out – what to watch out for
• Practical steps every policyholder should take

Presented by Herbert Smith Freehills