Underwriting
Customer and Products
A reduction in CO2 emissions in line with the Paris climate targets can only be achieved as a joint effort. With this in mind, we also want to motivate our corporate customers to work with us on CO2 reduction. In the energy-intensive industrial sector in particular, large amounts of climate-damaging emissions can be saved. The UNIQA Group is also focusing decisively on the needs of customers in the private customer business and anchoring sustainability as an integral part of its core business. This allows sustainability aspects to be integrated even more strongly into the advisory approach and the product development process for all insurance lines.
Decarbonisation as an important principle for UNIQA
As early as 2018, UNIQA was the first Austrian insurance group to initiate a gradual exit from coal-based business and set out a forward-looking strategy with the UNIQA decarbonization guideline. Since 2019, we have refrained from new customer business with companies with a direct or indirect coal share of more than 30 percent. From the beginning of 2023, this coal share will be reduced to 5 per cent for new business.
In addition, UNIQA will support - under certain conditions - existing customers who want to exit the coal business in transforming their business model until at least 2025. The prerequisite for this is the development and implementation of a credible transformation plan and alignment with defined sustainability criteria.
At the beginning of 2023, UNIQA published the framework conditions for the phase-out of oil and gas, based on the coal phase-out, and implement them in the underwriting guidelines.
Advice on and prevention of natural disasters
UCB provides data to the NatCAT Competence Centre (NCCC) to address climate risks appropriately. The Group's risk exposure and its changes, accumulations and expected annual losses as well as the reinsurance cover required to protect the Group against major natural catastrophes are assessed by NCCC. UCB data is used to validate external models (including NCCC). Their results form the basis of our Group-wide risk management for natural catastrophes. In addition, these models are used to calculate annual stress scenarios in order to test the robustness of our underwriting and reinsurance cover.
UNIQA Sustainable Business Solutions
Building on its industry expertise, UNIQA is now taking a further step beyond the traditional insurance business: the new subsidiary UNIQA Sustainable Business Solutions supports customers in risk issues and climate transformation. It supports companies in strengthening their resilience through active risk management and harmonising their sustainability strategies with the legal framework.
