Term
Reinsurance
32 stories in our archive mention it
Reinsurance is insurance that insurers buy to shift part of the risk they have underwritten onto another carrier, for a share of the premium. It lets the primary insurer write more business than its own capital could otherwise support, while spreading catastrophic losses across the market.
In a reinsurance deal the primary insurer, called the cedent, transfers a defined slice of its policy risk to a reinsurer and pays part of the premium in exchange. The split can be proportional, where the reinsurer takes a fixed share of every policy and its premium, or excess-of-loss, where the reinsurer only pays once losses on a book of business cross an agreed threshold. The original policyholder deals only with the cedent, which keeps handling claims and stays liable to its own customer.
The purpose is to let an insurer write more business, or riskier business, than its own capital alone could safely support, and to smooth out the effect of a single large event or a bad year. Regulators watch this closely, since a policy that is nominally reinsured but structured so the risk never really leaves the cedent's books can flatter a balance sheet without actually reducing exposure. Solvency II and equivalent regimes exist partly to police that boundary.
In insurtech, reinsurance shows up as software and data platforms that price treaties, model catastrophe exposure, and automate the flow of premium and claims data between cedent and reinsurer, plus newer capacity vehicles that let alternative capital, not just traditional reinsurers, sit behind a program.
Written by Insurtech Daily.
For the running coverage rather than the definition, see the Property and catastrophe insurance hub.
Companies in these stories
Reinsurance in the news
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Brit Re drives group premium growth in H1’26 as third-party reinsurance platform expands
Brit has disclosed that its insurance premiums written increased by 4.4% to $1.77 billion in the first half of 2026, with growth predominantly driven by Brit Re, reflecting the continued expansion of the group’s…
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Data center exposure requires blend of insurance, reinsurance, ILS capital: Gallagher Securities CEO
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Bajaj Finserv Board approves plan to enter reinsurance business
Bajaj Finserv, an Indian non-banking financial company providing financial services across insurance, fintech, health and asset management, has announced that its board has approved a proposal to establish a reinsurance…
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Reinsurance market to benefit from newly launched EXPAS explosion risk intelligence platform
EXPAS, a provider of explosion risk intelligence for industrial operators and the insurance and reinsurance industries, has introduced a new approach to identifying and measuring operational explosion risk across…
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Aeolus makes wave of promotions across underwriting, reinsurance, retro, finance, legal & ops
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Liberty Mutual Re names new global cyber reinsurance chief
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Autonomous marks T&Cs as the new reinsurance battleground following mid-year rate declines
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Liberty Mutual Re appoints Tom Spurgeon as Global Head of Cyber Reinsurance
Liberty Mutual Reinsurance Group (LM Re) has appointed Tom Spurgeon as Global Head of Cyber Reinsurance, reinforcing its focus on expanding its global cyber reinsurance business.
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Record capital drives softer reinsurance pricing at July renewals
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How SiriusPoint’s Nestor Lopez is re-wiring reinsurance for the data and AI age
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Zhibao taps Lloyd's veteran for Labuan reinsurance board
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Zhibao Labuan Reinsurance Company Limited Welcomes Ms. Jun XU to Its Board of Directors as Independent Director
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Digital insurance growth in Africa and the Middle East highlights reinsurance capacity gaps, EIRS warns
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Reinsurance Gap Threatens Digital Insurance Growth Across Africa and Middle East
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Insurtech success highlights Cayman’s attraction for reinsurance start-ups
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Global Reinsurance, Geopolitics and Embedded Insurance
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Insurtech Policybazaar launches reinsurance across Sri Lanka, Qatar, Oman, UAE
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PolicyStreet’s Reinsurance Arm Sees LECA Rating Upgraded to “a+”
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BDA brings reinsurance and insurtech agenda to London forum
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LIRG(TM) selects insurtech MANiT Labs to power global reinsurance platform
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Cybersecurity reinsurers feel the strain of ransomware's rise
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Insurtech Lemonade Reduces Reinsurance Cession to Retain More Premiums
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Insurtech Lemonade scales back reinsurance cession
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India's Policybazaar expands reinsurance operations to UAE
Showing the 24 most recent of 32.