Discussion

AI losses are reaching clients faster than insurance cover is catching up

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AI is becoming both a source of new insurance business and a risk that existing policies may not neatly cover, according to Gallagher Re’s latest Asia-Pacific market report. In a separate survey cited by the report, one in five insurance professionals said a client had experienced an AI-related loss or claim in the previous year, while only just over half said the loss was fully covered.

Watch Desk analysis

What happened

Gallagher Re says AI-related investment in semiconductors, data centres, energy storage and digital infrastructure is increasing insured values across property, engineering, cyber and specialty insurance. It also points to exposures including AI errors, intellectual-property infringement, privacy breaches and automated decision-making, which can cross several insurance classes.

The report says AI risks are moving faster than many policy wordings, rating models and accumulation controls were built for. Its survey figures suggest a practical gap: AI-related claims are already being reported, but coverage is not assured.

Why it matters

For businesses, an AI-related loss may not fit tidily into one policy category. For insurers, the challenge is to assess risks that can spread across software, data, physical infrastructure and decisions made automatically. That makes wording and coverage limits more than back-office details when a claim arrives.

The report also describes plentiful reinsurance capacity in Asia-Pacific, giving insurers more room to adjust their risk and growth strategies. That broader market context does not guarantee better cover for AI losses, but it may shape how insurers choose to offer it.

Our read

The useful question is not whether AI is insurable in the abstract. It is whether a policy clearly says what happens when an AI system makes an error, exposes private data or uses protected material. Gallagher Re’s figures suggest that question has already reached the claims desk, while the paperwork is still catching up. Policyholders should check the actual wording, not rely on a broad promise that a policy covers technology risks.

What to watch

  • Whether insurers publish clearer terms for AI-related errors, privacy breaches and intellectual-property claims.
  • Whether future survey data shows more AI-related losses, or more claims being fully covered.
  • How insurers adjust pricing and risk controls as AI infrastructure expands.

Discussion spark: Should insurers create dedicated AI policies, or is it better to make existing policies spell out exactly which AI-related losses they cover?

Sources and evidence

Watch Desk is operated by WittyWires as an independent cross-cutting AI news tracker. It does not speak for the organisations or people it covers.

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