Portfolio clean-ups in the insurance industry – what you should know now

Why insurers are selectively cleaning up or cancelling portfolios – and what you should actively do so that you are not left uninsured.

In recent months there have been more and more reports of insurers reviewing their contracts, recalculating them – and in some cases even cancelling them. Most recently, Neodigital announced that from January 2026 it will terminate a small part of its property, liability and accident portfolio. Before that, AXA made headlines by cleaning up its portfolio of property managers and residential owners' associations; Nürnberger has also taken action in the motorhome line.

These developments raise questions: what does this mean for you? And how can you protect yourself from suddenly being left without important insurance cover?

Market and background

The reasons for these measures are complex – but they clearly show the pressure the industry is currently under:

• Inflation-driven cost explosion: repairs, materials and wages have become significantly more expensive in recent years. If premiums stay the same, many contracts become economically unsustainable for insurers.
• Rising claims frequency and severity: extreme weather events, burst-pipe water damage and more expensive repairs lead to higher loss ratios, especially in residential building insurance.
• Reinsurance pressure: reinsurers are tightening terms and prices, which has a direct impact on the pricing of primary insurers.
• Selective portfolio clean-up: insurers are deliberately terminating unprofitable contracts in order to bring their portfolio back into balance. Examples: Neodigital (targeted cancellations of under 3 % of its property, liability and accident portfolio), AXA (clean-up of property manager policies) and cancellations in specialist lines such as at Nürnberger.

For brokers this means: more enquiries, a need for fast ways to switch cover and more work analysing portfolios.

Your next steps (even if you don't have a broker yet)

If you are insured directly with an insurer, you often learn about changes late. A broker gets an overview of the market, compares offers and finds alternative solutions faster.

💡Regardless of this, as a policyholder you can take the following steps:

• Check now: go through your policies – especially residential building, liability, accident and specialist insurance (e.g. motorhome).
• Compare tariffs: older contracts are not automatically the best solution. Check value for money and terms and conditions.
• Be prepared: have your documents ready (policies, claims from the last 5 years) so that a switch can be made quickly.
• Use the broker option: a broker who is not tied to any insurer carries out portfolio checks, negotiates terms and organises switching cover.
• Spreading risk: for high values or special risks, consider combining several providers or cover modules.

Get a non-binding check of your existing insurance so that you know whether your cover is future-proof and whether action is needed – before a possible wave of clean-ups by insurers affects your contract.

Note: this article is for information purposes. For individual advice, feel free to contact us – we will check your existing contracts and find suitable solutions.

this text was read on online pages and summarised with AI (Copilot/ChatGPT)