Conference Chairperson & Opening Remarks

Tim Brennan, Managing Associate, Byrne Wallace Shields LLP

The Insurance Market in 2026: Pressures, Priorities and Emerging Risk

Litigation Trends and Developments in the Insurance Sector

Speaker: Sarah Murphy, Partner, A&L Goodbody LLP

• Recent notable cases (aircraft lessor, Motor Finance Litigation in the UK recommission arrangements)
• Representative actions + impact for insurers
• How the imminent Civil Justice Reform Bill 2025 may impact insurance disputes
• Third party funding update (the Government seems set against legislation but law reform due to report early 2026 and may give further impetus to change)
• FSPO trends in the insurance sector
• New EU Product Liability Directive to be implemented by December – risks and opportunities for insurers

Fraud, Financial Crime and Suspicious Claims Activity

Speaker: Ronan Guckian, Head of Ireland, Association of Corporate Investigators &Snr Investigator MetLife

• Current fraud risks across insurance products and functions
• Red flags in claims, customer interactions and internal processes
• The challenge of increasingly sophisticated fraud methods
• Strengthening awareness, reporting and escalation
• Balancing fraud prevention with fair customer treatment

Underinsurance, Inflation and Cover Adequacy

Speaker: Trevor Kelly, BSc. (Hons) Building Surveying, MSCSI, MRICS, BDMA InsTech, CDip L.A, Insurance Claim Solutions

• Why underinsurance remains a major issue in the current market
• Inflation, rebuild costs and sums insured under pressure
• Customer misunderstanding and disputes around adequacy of cover
• The role of brokers, insurers and claims teams in managing this risk
• Practical ways to improve clarity and reduce future problems

Cyber Exposure, AI Risk and Insurance Response

Speaker: Gillian Traynor, Director, Ambit Compliance

• Why cyber remains a major concern across the market
• AI-enabled fraud and emerging operational risk
• New exposures for insurers, brokers and customers
• Product, claims and governance issues arising from digital risk
• Practical steps firms are taking to respond

Geopolitical Instability, Business Interruption and Market Exposure

Speaker: Simon MacAllister, Partner, EY-Parthenon

• How global instability is affecting insurance risk and pricing
• Political violence, supply chain disruption and knock-on exposure
• Business interruption concerns linked to wider global events
• What brokers and insurers need to consider in a less stable world
• Translating major headlines into practical insurance relevance

Policy Clarity & Claims Recovery Mastery

Speaker: Tim Brennan, Managing Associate, Byrne Wallace Shields LLP

• Spotting and closing hidden coverage gaps in commercial policies, including Cyber, Property, and D&O.
• Understanding how Irish courts interpret key policy phrases; helping advisers avoid unexpected claim refusals.
• Negotiating bespoke endorsements and tailored clauses.
• Clarifying complex triggers of coverage for long‑tail or multi‑year liabilities.
• Managing the tripartite relationship between the insured, insurer, and panel defence counsel during indemnity disputes.
• Responding effectively to reservation‑of‑rights letters and initial repudiations and shifting the burden back onto the insurer.
• Compiling and presenting sophisticated business interruption calculations to secure maximum financial recovery after major operational losses.

AI and Context-Led Claims Fraud Detection

Speakers: Alex Johnson, VP - Insurance Industry Lead, Quantexa and Adele Sumner, Independent Fraud Consultant

• Beyond traditional fraud indicators - The limitations of rules-based analytics in a changing fraud landscape
• Embedding party intelligence - moving beyond a single view of claim to a single view of claim party
• The role of data quality - enabling AI models to support earlier detection of suspicious claims
• Know your opponent analytics - uncover hidden supplier and synthetic frauds
• Balancing fraud prevention with fair customer outcomes - ensuring regulatory compliance, transparency, explainability and governance