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Investor Caution in the Wake of a Hard Insurance Market

September 15, 2020

Investor Caution in the Wake of a Hard Insurance Market

The insurance industry is facing a hard market thanks to multiple factors including the COVID pandemic. Hard markets are a time of high insurance premiums, more precise and complex underwriting, fewer policies being written, and a shrinking pool of competitors. With that in mind, insurers are raising money to make the most of opportunities as they arise. At the same time, investors are understandably cautious. Intelligent Insurer details a recent panel discussion on hard markets with commentary from Stefan Holzberger of AM Best and Jon Warwick of ILS Capital. The experts predict how investors may respond to hard market conditions and how that will impact the insurance industry in the coming months. Holzberger notes that factors affecting the market cycle include low-interest rates, loss creep from previous catastrophic events, and litigation finance. He predicts a sustained hard market. Lit fin can be a particular thorn in the side of insurers, since it affords ordinary people the opportunity to pursue insurance claims even after they’ve been denied. Warwick explains that while investor confidence is favorable, capacity is reduced. This reduced capacity can create more difficult conditions for reinsurance programs. That’s bound to cause a spike in prices. In some areas, rates have increased as much as 75%. While some factors were in place even before the start of the year, the uncertainty brought about by COVID has brought extreme volatility to the market. Holzberger predicts that this rate of hardening will continue to increase and intensify. Warwick predicts that rate hikes will impact territories and classes differently. He refers to one company that doubled its insurance—causing premiums to go up a shocking 1,000%. Both experts predict good things for the future of the insurance industry. Despite some difficulties, the market is well-capitalized with solid liquidity.  

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Triple-I Launches Consumer Campaign Against Litigation Funding in Texas and Kentucky

The Insurance Information Institute has opened a new front in the fight over third-party litigation funding, launching a consumer-awareness campaign in Texas and Kentucky ahead of both states' 2027 legislative sessions. The push adds two more targets to a state-level reform wave in which more than 20 states have already enacted funding disclosure laws.

As reported by Insurance Business, Triple-I is framing the campaign around the transmission of litigation costs into insurance premiums. Michel Léonard, the organisation's chief economist, put the argument bluntly: "Litigation is outgrowing the economy. That gap doesn't stay in the courtroom. It lands in claims, reserves and premiums." Critics of such measures counter that disclosure mandates and funding restrictions limit access to justice for claimants who cannot otherwise afford to litigate.

Casualty pricing is the evidence Triple-I points to. While commercial property rates declined over the past year, casualty lines have stayed elevated, with umbrella and excess liability recording the sharpest increases and commercial auto under sustained pressure.

The underlying cost data comes from several Triple-I studies, including work with the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform and the Casualty Actuarial Society. U.S. tort costs reached $579.7bn in 2023, nearly double the $299.7bn recorded in 2014. Other liability accounted for $249.3bn and personal auto liability for $188.1bn. Triple-I estimates that legal system abuse added between $231.6bn and $281.2bn to liability losses across the decade to 2023.

Commercial

Proposed DIFC Arbitration Law Reforms Would Impose Express Third-Party Funding Disclosure

Dubai's financial free zone is moving toward a statutory disclosure obligation for litigation funders. The proposed 2026 reforms to the DIFC Arbitration Law—the most substantial overhaul since the statute was enacted in 2008—would introduce express disclosure requirements for third-party funding arrangements in arbitrations seated in the Dubai International Financial Centre.

As reported by SCC Online, the reforms were examined during Dubai Arbitration Week 2026, in a session on the proposed changes to the DIFC Arbitration Law and the new DIFC Mediation Law. Justice Michael Black of the DIFC Courts framed the funding provision as a measure to strengthen transparency and accountability in arbitral proceedings. The panel, moderated by Graham Lovett of the DIAC Arbitration Court, also included DIFC Courts Chief Justice Wayne Martin, DIAC Registrar Robert Stephen, and counsel from Akin.

The funding disclosure requirement sits within a broader package. Other proposed changes would cut the window for set-aside challenges from three months to 30 days on a non-extendable basis, permit summary determination of unmeritorious claims, allow peremptory orders backed by sanctions, give statutory recognition to emergency arbitrator decisions, and extend confidentiality to the existence of proceedings. A standalone Mediation Law would make mediated settlements binding and court-enforceable.

The reforms follow a DIFC consultation that ran from 11 June to 10 July 2026. Arbitration volume at the DIFC Courts underscores the stakes: the courts handled 54 arbitration matters in 2025 and 45 by early November 2026, roughly one-third of the Court of First Instance workload.

Commercial

Federal Court Removes Hellyer Metals Liquidator, Citing Failure to Pursue Litigation Funding

The Federal Court of Australia has removed the liquidator of Hellyer Metals Pty Ltd, finding a lack of independence and criticising his handling of litigation funding offers that could have financed an investigation into a disputed asset transfer.

As reported by ABC News, Justice Shaun McElwaine delivered orders and reasons on 10 November 2026 in Goshawk Mining Pty Ltd v Hellyer Metals Pty Ltd, in the matter of Hellyer Metals Pty Ltd (in liq) [2026] FCA 1676, removing Liam Bailey of O'Brien Palmer and appointing Adam Johnston in his place, with all books and records to be handed over. The judgment records that the parties behind the share transfer under scrutiny had appointed Bailey, who then retained as his solicitor the lawyer who had introduced them. He also provided a draft statutory liquidation report to directors the court described as intimately involved in the transaction, conduct the judge called "a serious error of judgement and demonstrative of a lack of independence."

The funding findings were central. Time records showed 30.35 hours of investigative work between January and May 2026, of which just 12 minutes were spent on litigation funding. From March 2026, two companies offered to discuss funding an investigation, but the court found he failed to engage meaningfully. A funding agreement was signed only after the removal proceeding had commenced, following an approach from lawyers acting for two bankrupt former directors.

Hellyer Metals entered voluntary administration in January 2026, with Bailey appointed liquidator on 22 January. Assets had been transferred to associated company Celestial Group around the time the Tasmanian government ordered the Hellyer Gold Mine temporarily shut over unpaid debts. Goshawk Mining and Saxby Capital, which obtained a Supreme Court order freezing $36.4 million, are pursuing damages exceeding $36 million. The court described the transaction as prima facie highly questionable and said removal was indeed required.