Organized by the Department for Legal Studies and International Relations at the University for Continuing Education Krems in cooperation with the Association of Insurance Brokers and Consultants in Insurance Matters of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber, the Krems Insurance Forum took place online for the seventh time on 9 November 2021. Risk management, cybercrime, professional liability and plans for the IDD revision were some of the topics discussed by renowned experts.
Also in the online format, the Krems Insurance Forum 2021 was again able to virtually gather around 160 people from Austria and Germany to exchange views on current issues of insurance law with renowned experts. The great interest also shows that highly relevant issues were addressed with the topic "Compliance - Prevention and Risk Transfer". "To my delight, the pandemic-related online event of the Krems Insurance Forum again managed to attract a great deal of interest this year. Numerous attendees crowding the virtual classroom prove that our topics are in tune with the times," said Arlinda Berisha, from the Specialized Field Insurance Law, who together with Friedrich Faulhammer, Rector of the University for Continuing Education Krems, welcomed and opened the forum.
Rector Faulhammer emphasized the importance of the Forum as an expert platform for the exchange of knowledge and experience and stressed the leading role of the Specialized Field Insurance Law at the Department for Legal Studies and International Relations as a provider of continuing education courses in insurance law.
Current business risks and questions of the excedents
Attorney Roland Weinrauch, (NYU), and Jürgen Sponerhighlighted the importance of risk management for businesses. They explained that risk management acts as a "corporate radar". Currently, the top three risks in Austria are business interruptions, such as those resulting from supply chain issues, cybercrime, and pandemic impacts, such as workforce loss and various restrictions. These risks are usually assessed based on their probability and extent of damage, which results in the expected loss value. The pandemic in particular also highlighted the importance of business continuity management to ensure economic continuity.
Dr. Theo Langheid, honorary professor at the University of Salzburg, dealt with the exhaustion of the sum insured and the excedent's obligation to follow up based on concrete examples. Langheid discussed the differences in the follow-up obligations between insurers in the case of horizontal and vertical co-insurance. Problems arise for excess insurers when they are not involved, since according to Section 106 of the German Insurance Contract Act (VVG) only "the insurer" is obligated to provide coverage. Rulings of the OLG Düsseldorf and OLG Munich were discussed on the exhaustion of the sum insured.
Hazards the digital world and contemporary compulsory insurances face
Claas Hoffmann from Euler Hermes gave a presentation entitled "Successful acquisition approaches to crime and cybercrime - targeted measures for risk transfer". He addressed the three areas of cybercrime and damage caused by third parties, intentional damage caused by employees, and compliance. Due to many more people working from home, where a regular exchange with colleagues is less possible, processes became more vulnerable to fraud scenarios such as "payment diversion" or orderer fraud.
The area of compulsory liability insurance was covered with an "Analysis based on professional liability from the practitioner's point of view" by Mag. Wolfgang Fitsch, authorized signatory, ALLCURA Versicherungs-Aktiengesellschaft. From the legal basis - §§ 158c-158i VersVG - over examples from OGH decisions, among other things to immaterial damage and to the serial damage, as well as insurance conditions Fitsch covered a range up to the requirements of modern obligation insurance solutions.
Cyber insurance and the EU legal framework
Kerstin Keltner, expert for cyber insurance and liability insurance at Koban Südvers Group GmbH, addressed the question "Do insurance brokers need cyber insurance?" She presented current attack scenarios and the development of the cyber insurance market, where an average annual growth of 20 percent is expected.
The forum concluded with a look into the future by Dr. Nadine Wiedermann-Ondrej, BMF, Department III/6 Insurance Law, Federal Ministry of Finance. She gave a presentation on the project report of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) and the European Commission on the revision of the Insurance Distribution Directive (IDD). It is expected to take until the end of 2022 for the European Commission's legislative proposal, and the revision is not expected to become applicable until 2026. An important point was sustainability in existing legal acts, both under the Solvency II Level 2 regime and under IDD Level 2. An outlook on Digital Operational Resilience (DORA) and the Pan-European Private Pension Product (PEPP) was also given.
Outlook to 2022
Dr. Klaus Koban, Managing Director of Koban Südvers Group GmbH, Prof. Erwin Gisch, Managing Director of the Association of Insurance Brokers, both members of the scientific advisory board of the forum, and Arlinda Berisha, who heads the Specialized Field of Insurance Law at the University for Continuing Education Krems, oversaw the program design and moderation of the 7th Krems Insurance Forum.
The forum can be credited as a continuing education event if it corresponds to the contents of Annex I of the IDD or Annex 9 of the GewO.
The Krems Insurance Forum is planned again for the following year, the date will be 8 November 2022. Manz-Verlag is preparing a follow-up to the 7th Krems Insurance Forum in the form of a conference volume.
Six study courses covering insurance law
Offering the degrees of Academic Expert, Academic Insurance Broker, MLS - Master of Legal Studies, Master of Laws in Insurance Law, LL.M., Insurance Management MBA and the Risk Management and Insurance (Certified Program), the University for Continuing Education Krems runs six in-service continuing education programs in the field of insurance law for different professional groups.
