Storm and hail losses in the first half affected July 1 renewals for insurers and reinsurers in Australia and New Zealand, according to Guy Carpenter.

“This impacted net accounts of insurers and reinsurers writing quota share and aggregate excess-of-loss reinsurance,” the reinsurance broker’s MD and Head of Global Property Specialty Lara Mowery said.

However, there were no major catastrophe losses in either country, she says.

Worldwide, demand for reinsurance has continued to increase on a rise in property catastrophe coverage, up 8% since last year due to new entities buying cover and companies enhancing protection as they expand.

However, reinsurance price reductions have generally continued to moderate, especially on programs covering US wind.

Overall pricing was lower at the July 1 renewal across nearly all geographies and lines of business.

New capital continues to flow into the reinsurance market and is increasingly embedded, Ms Mowery says. “This has spurred insurers’ confidence to execute business plans that may require additional limits purchased, such as geographic expansion or line-of-business growth.”

The industry is starting to assess solutions for larger underinsured or uninsured risk issues, including expansion of flood coverage and the evolution of cyber coverage.