HDI Global has launched global healthcare solutions, an international healthcare liability offering built on its German medical malpractice business, and appointed Colin Lavey (pictured) as head of the unit effective September 1.
The corporate and specialty insurer, which operates in more than 175 countries as part of the Talanx Group, is positioning the proposition to serve healthcare providers, allied health organisations, long-term care operators, and emerging health businesses across international markets. The launch extends underwriting capabilities that HDI has developed in the German medical malpractice market into a broader international offering, combining specialist healthcare liability underwriting with the insurer's local market infrastructure.
The timing reflects conditions in the healthcare liability market that have made placement difficult. Demand for healthcare liability coverage is growing while capacity, particularly at upper tower layers, keeps contracting. That results in longer placement timelines and more carriers required to construct each programme, according to Risk Placement Services' 2026 US Healthcare Market Outlook. While those dynamics are most acute in the US, the structural drivers - demographic pressure, rising medical costs, and the expanding liability profile of outpatient and allied health providers - are not unique to one market.
The proposition covers the full healthcare value chain, from acute care providers to allied health organisations and newer care models. The last category is among the hardest to place in the current market. Allied healthcare - pharmacies, home health agencies, outpatient clinics, therapy providers - continues to attract carrier interest, though human and social services providers, including behavioural health and long-term care operators, remain under significant underwriting scrutiny, according to RPS.
The global medical professional liability insurance market is projected to grow from US$17.69 billion in 2025 to US$26.24 billion by 2031, at a compound annual growth rate of 6.87%, according to Mordor Intelligence, with Asia-Pacific forecast to grow at 9.2% CAGR through 2031. That trajectory points to growing demand across precisely the international markets HDI is entering.
Lavey joins the role after nine years with HDI Global, having held positions, including director liability for UK & Ireland and, most recently, executive underwriter for automotive. He will lead the continued development of the global healthcare solutions proposition and support the growth of HDI's healthcare business internationally.
Lavey said his priorities in the role include building out the team, maintaining proximity to brokers and clients, and preserving technical discipline as the business scales.
The healthcare launch sits within HDI Global's Xcelerate29 strategy, the insurer's four-year plan running from 2026 to 2029, which focuses on selective international expansion, underwriting excellence, and growth in specialty lines. The strategy has identified North America, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East as priority growth regions, with HDI already operating through 30 owned entities worldwide alongside its broader network.
Mukadder Erdönmez, member of the HDI Global SE executive board responsible for liability, cyber, motor, and the US market, framed the launch as HDI's response to healthcare organisations facing more complex risk environments shaped by demographic change, digitalisation, and new models of care.
HDI Global, which crossed €10 billion in insurance revenue in 2024 while posting a 90% combined ratio, enters the healthcare liability segment as a carrier with a documented underwriting track record rather than as a new market entrant. In a market where capacity per carrier has shrunk dramatically and programmes that once closed in days now take weeks to construct, according to RPS, the speed at which the new unit builds underwriting depth across international healthcare liability lines will determine whether its proposition holds.
Lavey's stated priority of maintaining technical discipline as the business grows points to where HDI sees the execution challenge.
