Best’s Briefing: GDPR: The Issues for European Insurers at Implementation

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Operational and legal complexities, as well as preparing for the tight reporting window for breach notification, are the main challenges that (re)insurers have met on their path toward complying with the implementation of the European Union’s (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on May 25, 2018. These findings are published in a new report based on A.M. Best’s discussions with rated companies in the months leading up to the implementation of the new regulation.

The conversations aimed to determine (re)insurers’ level of preparedness, as well as the impact that the new regime is having on their enterprise risk management (ERM) function. The Best’s Briefing, “GDPR: The Issues for European Insurers at Implementation” states that the regulation, which applies to personal data held by companies, has prompted the (re)insurance sector to undertake a comprehensive data mapping exercise.

Alvise Argenton, senior financial analyst, said: “A.M. Best has been closely monitoring the process of alignment to GDPR among its rated companies as part of their ERM assessment, with a particular focus on associated operational, regulatory and reputational risks. The GDPR provides an opportunity for companies to take a closer look at their own policies and procedures that relate to data use and management. GDPR preparation has helped some insurers and reinsurers to strengthen or refresh their risk mitigation capabilities, leading to the introduction of new safeguards to manage the risk of non-compliance, including basic technical measures like data encryption.”

To have a sense of the progress made by (re)insurers over the past year, A.M. Best asked rated entities to self-assess their level of preparedness as at April 2018, approximately a month ahead of the GDPR implementation date. Information obtained through this exercise indicated that the market was largely confident that it would be prepared for implementation of the new regulation, with an average score of 7.7 on a scale from one to 10. This was a moderate improvement on the score of 7.0, reported in A.M. Best’s previous assessment in June 2017.

To access a complimentary copy of this briefing, please visit http://www3.ambest.com/bestweek/purchase.asp?record_code=273832.

A.M. Best is the world’s oldest and most authoritative insurance rating and information source. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

Copyright © 2018 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates.
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A.M. Best

Alvise Argenton, ACCA, +44 20 7397 0293

Senior Financial Analyst

alvise.argenton@ambest.com

or

Catherine Thomas, CFA, +44 20 7397 0281

Senior Director, Analytics

catherine.thomas@ambest.com

or

Yvette Essen, +44 20 7397 0322

Director, Research, Communications and Media – Europe, Middle East & Africa

yvette.essen@ambest.com

or

Edem Kuenyehia, +44 20 7397 0280

Director, Market Development & Communications

edem.kuenyehia@ambest.com

Source: A.M. Best