4.3 Transferred risks

4.3.1 Risks transferred to suppliers

The Group transfers some risk to suppliers via contract negotiations. The Group has a Purchasing Department to negotiate important supplier contracts, especially services supplied to a number of subsidiaries. This contractual risk transfer policy helps reduce the Group’s residual exposure to operational as well as to information systems and cybercrime risk.

 

4.3.2 Risks transferred to the insurance market

Edenred transfers part of its risks onto the insurance market through business-specific insurance programs that protect its businesses and assets in all host countries. They consist of international programs that set common standards for transferring risks to insurers and optimizing cover by pool-purchasing within Group entities. To diversify counterparty risks associated with these international programs, they are spread between around a dozen top-ranking insurers, none of which covers more than 30% of the total capacity transferred to the insurance market. In 2021, 100% of the Group’s programs involved insurers with an insurer financial strength rating higher than A- from Standard & Poor’s.

Key insurance cover taken out by the Group and transferred to the insurance market includes:

  • professional and civil liability insurance covering liability incurred by Edenred in the course of its business activities. This covers the Group’s potential financial liability in the event of bodily injury, material and/or immaterial damage caused to third parties. The Group has set up an international insurance program that covers all entities throughout the world thanks to local country-specific policies;
  • property and casualty and business interruption insurance covering Group assets throughout the world against accidental risks such as fire, natural disasters and other similar risks. It also covers any interruption to Edenred’s business as a result of such events together with problems encountered with suppliers following an accidental event covered by a policy taken out by the Group. The individual sites purchase local cover in addition to that provided by the international program. Edenred operates close to 200 sites in 46 countries;
  • anti-fraud insurance covering financial losses suffered by the Group as a result of fraud or hostile acts committed either by an employee of the insured (internal fraud) or by a third party. This policy covers paper fraud as well as payment fraud, i.e., fraudulent use of cards issued by the Group. The Group has set up a worldwide insurance program rounded out by local policies taken out in countries in which a need has been identified;
  • digital risk insurance covering the harm suffered/liability incurred by the Group as a result of an attack on its information systems or theft or a leak of data. This worldwide policy has been brought into line with the requirements of EU legislation to protect personal data. It is rounded out by local policies taken out in countries in which a need has been identified;
  • transportation and storage insurance covering the cost of goods stolen during transportation and/or storage. Edenred has taken out an insurance policy that covers Group entities exposed to transportation risk.

The Group’s international insurance program is rounded out by policies taken out in the countries in which Edenred does business. This coverage offers specific types of insurance needed in the different countries and only available locally (e.g., vehicle liability insurance).

To maximize the efficiency of its insurance arsenal, the Group has chosen to self-insure against low-intensity and/or infrequent risks. Self-insurance is based around contractual deductibles and/or a reinsurance captive acquired in 2014.

Insurance deductibles are intended to cover low-intensity risks and per-loss deductibles are adapted to each risk in line with Edenred’s financial capacity to bear the amounts in question. No adjustments were made to insurance deductibles during the year.

As a primary protection measure, Edenred’s reinsurance captive commits to insuring a certain amount of each risk covered. In addition to helping the Group to optimize the cost of transferring risk by retaining low-intensity and infrequent risks, the reinsurance captive also enables Edenred to address new risks that are specific to its businesses and to manage other risks in accordance with risk appetite in the insurance and reinsurance markets. In 2021, the level of risk retained by the Group reinsurance captive was increased slightly on property and casualty coverage to offset a tighter insurance market in late 2020. There was no change in the level of risk retained on other coverage.