Closing gaps and creating certainty: Strategies for robust cross-border protection

International business is never without challenges. But with geopolitical tensions, demographic and climate shifts, and technological change all accelerating, complexity has hit new heights. Organisations operating across borders increasingly need to protect themselves against a range of what-if scenarios that are expanding both in terms of variety and intensity, all while keeping up with rising costs and regulatory change.

As risk complexity intensifies, parent companies are under pressure to maintain a clear, consistent view of risk across jurisdictions. This demand for visibility, control, and coordinated protection is driving the need for international insurance programmes that not only span borders, but also adapt to evolving business and regulatory environments. Nowhere is this need more pressing than in the Asia-Pacific—a fast-growing region where businesses face immense opportunities alongside complex challenges in compliance, operations, and technology.

While international insurance solutions are widely available and seem relatively straightforward, vulnerabilities are often easily disguised and can endanger the organisation when protection is needed most.

The most common point of failure in international insurance programmes is design – specifically, programmes being created and structured in a way that results in gaps in coverage or lead to breakdowns in the claims process, which may only become apparent during a crisis. Such failure arises for three main reasons:

Miscommunication leading to missing coverage: Neglecting to ask the right questions, making assumptions about the client’s expectations or lacking familiarity with the local regulatory landscape can all result in a programme that doesn’t consider the full risk picture or business context. It’s important for insurers to develop a full understanding of the client’s operations and growth trajectory not just in the moment but over the mid to long-term, to design a programme that will remain effective in future. Approaches should be tailored, blending various products, claims, risk engineering and alternative risk transfer (ART) solutions depending on client needs.

Misaligned terms complicating policies: Confusion over terms or the way the programme is implemented is one of the leading causes of delays in policy issuance and premium flows — exposing clients to potential coverage gaps. Brokers, insurers and clients should come together to proactively address these issues, establishing clear mechanisms and ground rules that cover matters like policy wordings and premium payments across different territories.

Claims experience shortfalls: Breakdowns in communication or a lack of clarity can also result in miscommunications around or even the mishandling of claims, which can have severe consequences for client trust and retention. Again, the onus is on brokers and insurers across jurisdictions to cooperate and ensure the claims process is as seamless and efficient as possible for clients.

How can we set out to address these issues and create truly resilient international programmes? In our view, the answer boils down to clarity and transparency. Coordinated action is essential to ensure policy language is clear and unambiguous, and to establish well-defined processes that are understood and embraced by all parties. We need to have a real relationship with our clients – to listen and understand our clients' needs, including business growth and sustainability footprint.

A well-structured international programme begins with the issuance of a Master Policy to the client’s parent company or headquarters, which provides overarching protection and sets the foundation for the programme. Local policies are then issued in each jurisdiction to comply with local regulations. Where these local policies fall short — whether in scope or limits — the Master Policy serves to ensure adequate protection through Difference in Conditions (DIC) and Difference in Limits (DIL) coverage so that clients are not left exposed to uninsured losses due to local policy limitations.

In some cases, local regulations prohibit or restrict the use of non-admitted coverage such as DIC/DIL. In such instances, Financial Interest Cover (FinC) can serve as an alternative solution. The key is to proactively assess these requirements and structure the programme accordingly.

It is also essential to clarify early on how claims will be handled across jurisdictions — including which policy applies, how local and master policies interact, and what the client can expect in terms of process and timing. In addition, claims scenario workshops are a great way for the client to understand the process of how claims work, identify how the coverages come into play, and provide a level of comfort ahead of a real-world claim scenario.

Resilient design is crucial, but a successful programme requires ongoing support. Clients increasingly rely on their insurers for real-time insights into a shifting risk landscape. This makes local specialists indispensable – not only for interpreting compliance issues, but also for navigating logistical realities, linguistic nuances and cultural expectations.

When a loss occurs, clients often benefit from locally led claims handling, particularly when it comes to reducing the need to coordinate across multiple time zones. That's why Swiss Re Corporate Solutions has built an extensive network of global partners to support clients wherever they operate, alongside specialists in areas like claims and underwriting to ensure continuity throughout the client journey.

Consistency across policies and jurisdictions is also crucial. Our ONE Form policy ensures the language of the master policy is interpreted in a standardised way and mirrored in local policies, which removes policy ambiguities and drives a smoother claims process.

Technologies like PULSE can also play a key role in a successful international programme, with features such as:

• Programme & policy review: access policy information and documents and monitor the progress on policy issuance and premium payments
• Claims services: submit and track loss notifications and download loss runs and claims documents
• Weather & Nat Cat exposure: Monitor and download natural hazard exposure using our CatNet® tool and receive Nat Cat alerts for events approaching your locations
• Risk engineering services: View upcoming site visit details in the Customer Service Plan, collaborate on risk improvement recommendations and report impairments

Deploying technologies like these delivers far more than back-office efficiencies. They enable better performance tracking, highlight areas where programmes may need strengthening, and showcase where value is being created – insights that help risk managers make more informed decisions and demonstrate programme impact across the business.

To sum up, a cohesive and centralised international programme is within the reach of all of us to deliver, if we follow a few fundamental steps:

Deep-diving early on to rigorously assess the client’s risk landscape, the jurisdictions in which they operate and existing policies, with an eye to identifying coverage gaps, regulatory restrictions and inefficiencies.

Designing collaboratively, bringing together brokers, underwriters and clients to align on shared goals such as quicker claims resolution, policy consistency and cost efficiency.

Structuring master and local policies carefully so they align on language, triggers and claims protocols.

Driving consistency and visibility through the use of tools like PULSE, to enable real-time monitoring and management, and ensure documentation and decisions are delivered in a transparent and timely manner.

The common threads that run through all these processes, and ultimately through any successful international programme, are open communication, close collaboration and a focus on execution for the client. With the right practices and structure, programmes can manage even complex risks as they shift across locations; balance the need for compliance with operational and cost control; and free clients to pursue what matters most: their global growth priorities.