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8.6 Lawsuits
Member companies of the Hannover Re Group are involved in judicial and supervisory procedures as well as in arbitration proceedings as part of the conduct of insurance and reinsurance business. Depending upon the subject matter of the procedure, the Hannover Re Group sets aside provisions for the amount in dispute in such proceedings – for the most part in the technical account and in exceptional cases as a charge to other income and expenses – if and to the extent that the resulting commitments are likely to materialise and their amount can be estimated with sufficient accuracy. The provision established in each case covers the expense that can be expected in our assessment as at the balance sheet date.
Neither the outcome nor the duration of pending procedures can be definitively foreseen at the time when provisions are established. The final liabilities of Hannover Re may diverge considerably from the constituted provisions because the assessment of probability and the quantification of these uncertain liabilities in large measure require estimates that may prove not to be accurate as the proceedings in question continue to progress. This is also true of procedures for which no provisions were established. Insofar as a commitment exists under such procedures as at the balance sheet date that may possibly but will probably not result in a loss, the Hannover Re Group estimates this potential loss – where practicable – and reports a contingent liability. For estimation purposes Hannover Re takes into account a number of factors. These include, among others, the nature of the claim, the status of the procedure concerned, decision of courts and arbitration bodies, prior settlement discussions, experience from comparable cases as well as expert opinions and the assessments of legal advisers and other experts. If a provision has been established for a particular procedure, a contingent liability is not recognised.
The lawsuits pending in the year under review and as at the balance sheet date were not material for the Hannover Re Group either individually or combined. Furthermore, no contingent liabilities from lawsuits were to report as at the balance sheet date.