Marsh Risk, a Marsh business, has published its Global Transactional Risk Insurance Claims Report 2026, presenting a data-driven view of the changing transactional risk insurance claims market and outlining the implications for market participants operating in an increasingly complex and volatile environment.
The report’s conclusions are based on an extensive analysis of Marsh’s global transactional claims data for 2025. The analysis focuses on key indicators, including the number of claim notifications, annual payout trends, the most common types of breaches in notifications and paid claims, and the timing of claim notifications. The vast majority of the cases analysed involved claims under warranty and indemnity insurance policies, or W&I policies.
Key Findings for Europe in 2025
Marsh clients submitted 240 new transactional risk insurance claims, an increase of 103% year on year, related to 152 transactions. This represents a record level and a significant annual increase.
Clients received USD 46.9 million in policy payouts, 37% less than in 2024, although several large claims were close to final resolution at the end of the year.
The average proportion of policies affected by claims changed significantly. More than 20% of policies placed in 2023 recorded one or more claims, compared with around 12% in previous years.
Five European countries — Italy, France, Germany, Spain and Sweden — accounted for more than 95% of claim notifications in the region.
Tax breaches were the most frequently reported type of breach, accounting for 21% of claim notifications, but represented only around 4% of total payouts.
Financial statement breaches drove the severity of losses. They accounted for slightly less than 19% of notifications, but represented 64% of total payouts.
In Europe, claim notifications continued to arrive early. A significant share of claims was reported within the first year of cover, confirming the importance of proactive post-transaction monitoring and early engagement in claims handling.
Commenting on the European findings, Marnix Terpstra, Head of Transactional Risk Claims, Continental Europe at Marsh, said: “Conditions in the European transactional risk insurance claims market in 2025 are increasingly moving towards maturity, with the number of notifications reaching a record level. Although tax issues remained the most common cause of notifications, financial statement breaches accounted for the majority of paid losses, confirming the importance of robust financial due diligence, early claim notification and proactive claims management. The concentration of notifications in Italy, France, Germany, Spain and Sweden also reflects the growing maturity of warranty and indemnity insurance processes in Europe’s most developed markets.”
Craig Schioppo, Global Head of Transactional Risk at Marsh Risk, said: “Transactional risk exposures are becoming both more frequent and more severe, while interest in transactional risk insurance is growing across different regions of the world. The 34% increase in the number of claim notifications compared with 2024, together with the concentration of paid losses linked to financial statement breaches, underlines the need for earlier engagement, rigorous due diligence and transaction-specific structuring of cover. We continue to work closely with clients and insurers to ensure that claims are proactively identified and managed, and that placement strategies continue to evolve in response to the growing complexity and scale of losses caused by third parties and high-value events.”
Marcin Stoń, Head of the PEMA Practice, covering Private Equity and M&A, in the CEE and Eastern Mediterranean region, added: “As Marsh’s experience shows, transactional insurance policies not only enable M&A transactions to be completed, but also serve as an important instrument protecting the value of the acquired business. Many Marsh clients have seen this first-hand, having received multi-million payouts with our support from transactional insurance policies placed in Poland and across the CEE region.”
