Ireland is the favoured country for insurers seeking new office locations after the UK’s Brexit decision.

An International Underwriting Association (IUA) report says Luxembourg ranks a clear second, followed by France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Malta.

“Insurers have selected a variety of different options for new European offices and no single continental post-Brexit insurance hub appears to be emerging,” the IUA says.

Decisions are typically influenced by the location of current operations, relationships with national regulators and proximity to customer bases.

The UK is due to leave the European Union on March 29, with a transition period to last until the end of the following year, but details are yet to be finalised and insurers are making preparations.

The IUA – which represents non-Lloyd’s international and wholesale insurance businesses operating in the London market – is aware of cases in which the transfer of business from UK to continental parent companies has begun.

Premium income in the London market jumped 16% to £26.31 billion ($48.51 billion) last year, the group’s annual statistics report shows. The total includes £7.98 billion ($14.72 billion) written in other locations but overseen and managed by London operators.

“We have received multiple reports of companies embarking on new lines of business and growing premium volumes in specific classes as part of dedicated business plans,” IUA CEO Dave Matcham said.

There are also instances of books of business being moved to the UK from companies within a wider multinational group and new products being developed, while improvements in survey data collection may account for about one-third of the gain, the IUA says.