Credit insurers have not failed German firms-Marsh

FRANKFURT, July 8 (Reuters) - Credit insurers have not left German companies in the lurch in the current crisis and any government move to step into the insurers' shoes must be temporary, insurance broker Marsh (MMC.N) said on Wednesday.

"There has been no systemic failure," Felix Hufeld, chief executive officer of Marsh's German operations told a journalist briefing. "The numbers don't back that accusation," he said.

The German government is mulling plans to insure companies' commercial risks after industry groups complained that credit insurers were cutting back the insurance cover on offer fearing of rising losses. A decision may fall on Thursday. [ID:nLC1019070]

Any state role must be limited in duration, Hufeld said.

"Temporary state support may be legitimate and helpful to some clients," he said, adding that a longer-term role for the state would likely be unsuccessful, given the high premiums needed to insure risks commercial credit insurers would avoid.

Credit insurance in Germany is dominated by three players - Allianz's (ALVG.DE) Euler Hermes, Atradius [GCOXK.UL] and Coface, part of French investment bank Natixis (CNAT.PA), which together hold 90 percent of the market and insure 40,000 companies.

Hufeld said he expected a substantial rise over the next three to five years in the amount insurers pay out in damage claims for errors made by corporate managers.

Premiums in the German market for Directors & Officers insurance, which cover such claims, total around 300 million euros per year currently, he said. (Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)