According to a publication issued in September 2026, Marsh Re sees greater buyer choice and more bespoke cyber reinsurance structures. It expects European premium growth close to 10% in 2026 despite double-digit rate reductions. These trends can coexist as insured exposure, limits and take-up change; the figures remain a market outlook, not a guarantee.
AI adds urgency because automated tools can shorten the period between discovery of a vulnerability and attempted exploitation. AI also strengthens detection and testing, so the net effect will vary. The practical implication is a smaller response window and a greater need to connect prevention with insurance design.
Buyers should review retention, wording, aggregate limits, reinstatements and prevention together. Scenario testing should include business interruption, dependent systems, common service providers and multiple incidents. A tabletop exercise can test whether security, legal, finance and insurance teams share the same notification timetable and decision rights.
This magazine’s conclusion is that a softer market should be used to improve structure and clarity, not only price. Cyber reinsurance is one component of resilience. Its value depends on whether coverage, financial tolerance, accumulation management and incident response operate as a coherent system before the next event.
Renewal data can support continuous resilience. Control evidence, dependency maps and loss scenarios should feed security priorities, while architecture changes should update insurance assumptions during the year. Buyers can ask which controls materially influence capacity, pricing and claims outcomes, creating a feedback loop between prevention and transfer.
The recommendation should be revisited with fresh evidence after implementation, with an accountable owner and explicit measures for quality, risk and user impact.
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