Market organization where one risk is carried by several insurers each taking a percentage of the same contract, on single terms negotiated by a leader.
A subscription market is not a mere juxtaposition of insurers: it is a device allowing a risk larger than any single carrier would accept to be covered without multiplying contracts. The broker presents the risk, a leading underwriter quotes it and sets the terms, then followers each take a share on the same document and on the same terms. Three properties follow. The risk is split but the contract remains single, which spares the insured from negotiating ten policies and discovering ten different wordings on the day of a loss. Each carrier is bound for its share alone, with no joint liability, which limits contagion from one failure but transfers each line's credit risk to the insured. And the price is single, set by the leader, which saves negotiation but concentrates underwriting quality in one judgment. London and the specialty markets work this way; most national retail markets do not.
Placement of a 200M EUR limit liability program in 2026: the leader quotes the layer and takes 15%, eleven followers share the rest. The insured signs one contract and receives eleven signatures. If one follower fails five years later, nobody assumes its share of a claim, and it is that absence of joint liability that prior verification of each carrier's rating is meant to address.
subscription market, placement en file, marché de coassurance, placement fractionné