‘Big ticket’ After the Event Insurance policies

At ULP we define a ‛big ticket’ risk as a one-off ATE risk requiring a limit of indemnity (cover) of £1,000,000 or higher amount. We appreciate this is an arbitrary and subjective threshold, and we may well handle risks requiring lower limits or indemnity in the same way. So the figure is purely a guideline or ballpark.

We tend to find that risks requiring larger limits of indemnity require an even more bespoke approach. Shopping far and wide is still important but perhaps less so than the strength of the Insurer’s balance sheet and the flexibility of the Insurer towards endorsements to their (standard) policy wording. So the Broker’s role is even more critical.

For ‛big ticket’ ATE risks requiring substantial limits of indemnity, we are experts in structuring a program if more than one Insurer is needed to complete the placement (a subscription placement) and we use Insurers in the wider insurance markets who do not necessarily underwrite ATE business on a day-to-day basis. The Directors of ULP have over sixty years’ experience between them in structuring these sorts of insurance deals.

There may also be other parties involved in the negotiation process, for example litigation funders, and there may be security for costs and/or bonding issues.

The demand for bigger limits of ATE cover is increasing, especially following the arrival of contingency fee funders. Ten years ago, we were placing some risks that required limits of up to £15,000,000. Things went quiet in the middle years of the ‛noughties’ (possibly as a result of adverse publicity connected with some claims management companies’ personal injury model), but insurance capacity has been returning and it is now possible to achieve limits of indemnity of up to £10,000,000 or higher for the right risks.