Gallagher Re recorded a sharp reset in cyber reinsurance pricing at the 1 January 2026 renewals, with risk-adjusted rates for aggregate excess of loss protection down 32%.
The decline shows up in the broker’s cyber risk-adjusted rate index, which tracks pricing after adjusting for shifts in the underlying level of risk rather than headline rate movement.
The index concentrates on cyber aggregate stop loss and aggregate excess of loss contracts, where most meaningful reinsurance buying now occurs.
Since their introduction in 2015, these aggregate structures have become the preferred non-proportional option for cyber reinsurance buyers.
Gallagher Re says adoption accelerated as portfolios matured and buyers sought protection against clustering, frequency creep, and tail risk rather than single large losses.
The aggregate cyber imarket remains the best-capitalised corner of non-proportional cyber reinsurance and shows the narrowest dispersion of pricing views among reinsurers.
That consistency, Gallagher Re says, makes it the cleanest segment for tracking industry-wide pricing movement.
Risk calibration differs sharply from property. In cyber, limits do not scale linearly with exposure. The index relies on Gallagher Re’s internal risk framework, factoring in underlying rate movement, loss trend assumptions, volatility selection, and catastrophe model choice.
According to Beinsure, these modelling inputs increasingly shape cyber pricing more than historic loss ratios alone.
Gallagher Re said excess capacity at the January renewals drove the magnitude of the rate decline. Supply outpaced demand across aggregate layers, forcing reinsurers to compete on price.
Buyers also secured improvements in structural terms alongside rate reductions, a shift that mattered as much as headline pricing.
Many cedants renewed programs with lower attachments, increasing the likelihood of recoveries while paying less on a risk-adjusted basis. This came as primary cyber pricing continues to soften, setting expectations for lower ceded loss costs through 2026.
Buyers continue to prioritise coverage that responds asymmetrically to deteriorating loss trends, elevated event frequency, or a single systemic cyber event.
Aggregate structures, when designed properly, still do that job better than most alternatives.
According to our data, the January 2026 renewals mark one of the steepest risk-adjusted pricing resets the cyber reinsurance market has seen since aggregate covers gained traction.
