E+S Rück – which bears responsibility within the Hannover Re Group for German business – expects to see appreciable improvements in conditions for the treaty renewals as at 1 January 2014, especially in motor and homeowners' insurance.

Baden-Baden, 21 October 2013:

E+S Rück – which bears responsibility within the Hannover Re Group for German business – expects to see appreciable improvements in conditions for the treaty renewals as at 1 January 2014, especially in motor and homeowners' insurance.

"In view of the considerable losses caused by the three hailstorms and the flooding, prices for covers in the hard hit motor own damage and homeowners' lines are set to rise further in 2014 on the primary insurance side. Adjustments for loss-impacted reinsurance programmes are expected to go hand-in-hand with greater demand for reinsurance protection, a trend from which E+S Rück will benefit", Mr. Michael Pickel, a member of the company's Executive Board, explained during the week-long meeting of reinsurers in Baden-Baden.

Even before the hailstorm events, the market had been faced with heavy losses due to the major flooding in the summer of this year. The impact was particularly severe on homeowners' insurance, which was in any case already bleeding red ink. Coming on the back of unsatisfactory results in the previous years, there remains a need here for further efforts to restore the business to profitability. "Prices in natural catastrophe business must move sharply higher", Mr. Pickel noted.

Overall, Mr. Pickel anticipates growing demand for reinsurance protection on the German market: experience shows that risk awareness increases after an accumulation of such large events, prompting insurers to extend their coverage layers. This will have a positive effect on demand for natural catastrophe covers.

In long-tail lines which are sensitive to interest rates (general liability and motor liability) technical rate adjustments are needed in order to allow for the protracted low level of interest rates.

E+S Rück expects to see attractive business opportunities in 2014 and hopes to achieve further profitable expansion of its already large market share.