The 2025 Claims Study
Now in its third edition, our market-wide view of W&I claims trends provides unparalleled insight into the W&I insurance market, claims trends, breach types, and payment patterns.
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Access the full report, including jurisdictional insights across key markets.
The Dataset
Comprehensive analysis across sectors, jurisdictions, and claim lifecycles
Foreword
The W&I insurance market has never been larger, more sophisticated, and more heavily relied upon than it is today.
Claims are being paid at consistent and predictable levels, and insurers are resolving these claims efficiently and commercially. The message is simple: W&I insurance works.
With over 18,500 policies analysed since 2016, this year’s Study gives the clearest view yet of how W&I insurance delivers clear value to policyholders across numerous jurisdictions, sectors and deal sizes.
The data suggests we are also starting to see a maturing market. Notification rates continue to climb, reflecting growing confidence in insureds in using the policy. The policy paid rate for the years 2016-2019 (when most notifications are now closed) has settled at around 6.25% of policies, which reflects the real utility of a product responding to unknown and unidentified risks. Perhaps most strikingly, for the third year running, our Study shows that nearly 50% of all claims are based on seller fraud, non-disclosure and third-party claims (claims which by definition couldn’t be discovered by due diligence).
The regional narrative is equally clear. Historically strong markets - UK & Ireland, the Nordics, Western Europe – continue to anchor policy volumes, but we are seeing accelerating adoption and claims volumes across Southern Europe, CEE/Baltics and MEA. Surveys in this year’s Study from HWF’s offices in France, Germany, Italy, Poland and UAE reveal the same story: as familiarity with the product deepens, these regions are producing more claims, more recoveries and more evidence that W&I has become a mainstream risk transfer tool.
As the market continues to expand, the quality and efficiency of claims outcomes will be critical to sustaining confidence. In presenting our third year of this Study, HWF continues to be the authoritative voice on W&I claims data as we continue to grow this valuable product.
Key Takeaways
Notification rates continue to climb
Reflecting growing confidence among insureds in using the policy
Policy paid rate notifications at 6.25%
Policy paid rate for 2016–2019 notifications has settled at 6.25%, demonstrating the real utility of W&I insurance in addressing unknown risks.
50% fraud non-disclosure & third-party claims
For the third consecutive year, nearly 50% of all claims relate to seller fraud, non-disclosure, and third-party claims—issues that due diligence cannot uncover
Insights
The 2025 Claims Study provides detailed insights since 2016 across 24 insurers, including:
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W&I policies placed by sector and jurisdiction
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Enterprise value of insured transactions
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Policies with notifications and paid claims
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Claims notifications by jurisdiction, sector, and value
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Timing and quantum of claims payments
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Types of breach and insurer subrogation trends
Jurisdictional deep-dive
For the first time, the study extends beyond single markets to provide insight across multiple jurisdictions.
Frequently asked questions
HWF's Claims Study is the only report in the W&I market providing a true market view through an independent survey of 24 insurers. This gives you unfiltered insight into real claims patterns and trends across the sector.
HWF is available at every step of the claims process, from notification through to settlement. We act as claims advocates, negotiating directly with insurers on your behalf and leveraging our commercial relationships to deliver practical results.
David Wall and Alex Harding are the key contacts for this report. You can also reach out to your usual HWF contact or email info@hwfpartners.com for any enquiries.
Earlier editions of the HWF Claims Study are available on our Insights page. You can access them there along with other research and market analysis.
The study analyses policies placed by sector and jurisdiction, enterprise value of transactions, claims notifications, payment timing and quantum, breach types, and insurer subrogation trends across the 18,563 policies surveyed.
