EAA Web Session: "Non-Life Pricing Using Statistical Techniques with R Applications"

Introduction & Programme

Non-Life insurance is facing many challenges ranging from fierce competition on the market or evolution in the distribution channel used by the consumers to evolution of the regulatory environment. Pricing is the central link between solvency, profitability and market shares (volume). Improving pricing practice encompasses several dimensions:

• Technical: Is our pricing adequate to cover the underlying cost of risk of my policyholders and the other costs we are facing? Which are the key variables driving the risk? Are they adequately taken into account in our pricing? What’s the impact of the claims history of my policyholder on its expected risk? In which segment are we profitable and in which are we not profitable?
• Competition: At what price will we attract the segments that we target and price out those that we do not want? Is the positioning of our competitors influencing our pricing practice and our profitability? What’s my position with respect to my competitors in term of pricing? What are the segments in which I am well positioned and the segments where I am not well positioned?
• Elasticity: What price (evolution) are our existing customers prepared to accept? Does the sensitivity to price evolution depend on the profile of my customer?
• Segmentation: Is our segmentation granular enough for our purposes?

The aim of this web session is to present some advanced actuarial/statistical techniques used in non-life pricing or underwriting. The web session focuses on selected practical problems faced by pricing actuaries and product managers.

Preliminary Programme
Tuesday, 26 May 2026
09:00-10:30  Introduction to risk classification, From linear models to generalized linear models (GLM), Poisson regression for claims counts, Overfitting and bias variance trade-off
10:30-10:45  Break
10:45-12:30 Example: Poisson regression with R
 Case study in R: Developing a technical tariff for frequency

Wednesday, 27 May 2026
09:00-10:30   Gamma regression for attritional claims, Binomial regression, Extreme value theory for large claims modelling, Example: Gamma and binomial regressions with R, Final technical tariff
10:30-10:45  Break
10:45-11:45 Case study in R: Developing a technical tariff for cost & atypical claims, Final technical tariff
11:45-12:30 Other practical difficulties with GLM 

Thursday, 28 May 2026
09:00-10:45 Modelling continuous explanatory variables with Generalized additive models (GAM), Example: GAM models for binning, Case study in R: Refining my technical tariff with GAM modelling (binning)
10:45-11:00 Break
11:00-12:30 Penalized regression techniques and regularization, Example: Feature selection and feature engineering (e.g. binning) with regularization techniques

Friday, 29 May 2026
09:00 - 10:45 Introduction to Generalized Linear Mixed Models (GLMM), Example: modelling activity codes in Worker’s Compensation insurance with GLMM
10:45-11:00 Break
11:00-12:30 Experience rating: How to adapt premium with past claims history using credibility models: Example: experience rating to assess broker’s efficiency, Case study in Excel: Credibility for fleet pricing

All the above times are given in CEST (Central European Summer Time).

Learning Objectives & Approach

The web session will alternate between methodological concepts, practical examples shown by trainers and case studies performed by participants in order to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the techniques presented. The case studies will be performed by the participants with the R software.

Participants

The web session is developed for non-life actuaries or statisticians but also for managers working in product development or risk management departments. There is no strong prerequisite, but participants should ideally have basic knowledge of non-life pricing and R to participate in this web session.
Attendees are encouraged to use a laptop computer with R installed as well as some useful packages (all the information will be provided after subscription). A basic knowledge of the R software is useful.

Technical Requirements
Please check with your IT department if your firewall and computer settings support web session participation (the programme Zoom will be used for this online training). Please also make sure to join the web session with a stable internet connection.

Lecturers

Michaël Lecuivre
Michaël holds a Bachelor and Master in Physics from the Catholic University of Louvain (UCL) and a Master in Actuarial Sciences, also from the UCL. He is also the winner of the IABE (Institute of Actuaries in Belgium) best master thesis of 2016. He is currently the Lead Pricing in Reacfin Non-Life Center of Excellence. As a consultant, Michaël has worked on multiple Non-life missions such as Non-life technical pricing, profitability analysis, competition analysis, BSCR computations and aggregations under Solvency II, reporting optimization and finally risk management. All this allowed him to gain a good expertise in SAS and R as well as a good knowledge of statistical models (GLM, GAM,GLMM …) and machine learning algorithms (regression trees, random forest, GBM …). He is involved in various missions as modelling, implementation and validation of pillar I deliverables (standard approach and (Partial) Internal models), reinsurance optimization, model documentation, non-life pricing model development for several lines of business, etc.. Michaël is a qualified actuary of the Institute of Actuaries in Belgium (IA|BE).

Xavier Maréchal
Xavier is founder and CEO of Reacfin. Xavier is one of the co-authors of “Actuarial Modeling of Claim Counts: Risk Classification, Credibility and Bonus-Malus Systems” (Wiley, 2007). Xavier has obtained different academic degrees as Master in Engineering (Applied Mathematics), MSc. Actuarial Sciences and MSc. Management. Xavier is a qualified actuary of the Institute of Actuaries in Belgium (IA|BE). Xavier has extensive experience in the actuarial field obtained during his 18 years as a principal consultant for many national and multinational insurance companies. He has gained a complementary experience in various fields going from Non-Life ratemaking and provisioning to health modeling and ALM. After several years of intensive modeling activities in health, non-life and ALM, Xavier works now as reviewer and mentor for consultants. He performed several validation assignments and holds the actuarial function for a health insurance company.

Julie Zians
Julie is a Senior Manager at Reacfin. Julie holds a BSc. Mathematics from the University of Liège (ULg) and a MSc. Actuarial Sciences from the University of Louvain (UCL). She is a qualified actuary of the Institute of Actuaries in Belgium (IA|BE). Julie is a certified Programmer in SAS from the SAS institute and further programs regularly in R or Visual Basic. After a six months internship at Reacfin in 2011, she joined the firm in 2012. She is a member of the Non-Life Center of Excellence and has performed several projects in Non-Life Insurance (pricing and capital modelling) but also in Health Insurance.

Language & CPD Credits

The language of the web session will be English.

CPD Credits
For this web session, the following CPD credits are available under the CPD scheme of the relevant national actuarial association:

• Austria: 13 points
• Belgium: 13 points
• Bulgaria:  15 points
• Croatia: individual accreditation
• Czechia:  13 hours
• Denmark: 12 credits
• Estonia:  13 hours
• Finland: 8.5 points
• France:  72 points
• Germany:  12 hours
• Greece: 17 points
• Hungary:  13 hours
• Iceland: 13 credits
• Ireland: 13 hours
• Italy: approx. 4 credits (individual accreditation)
• Latvia: 13 hours
• Lithuania: 13 hours
• Netherlands:  approx. 13 points (individual accreditation)
• Norway: 13 points
• Poland: 13 hours
• Portugal: 13 hours
• Serbia: 5 hours
• Slovakia:  8 points
• Slovenia:  50 points
• Spain: CAC: 13 hours, IAE: 13 hours
• Switzerland:  15 points
• USA: SOA (Section B): up to 15.6 hours

No responsibility is taken for the accuracy of this information.

Fees & Registration Details

Early Bird Registration Fee (until 14 April 2026):

• For private customers in the EU: €1,040.00 + VAT of the billing country (example Germany: €1,237.60 incl. 19% VAT)
• For private customers outside the EU: €1,237.60 (incl. 19% VAT)
• For businesses within the EU (excl. Germany, with valid VAT ID): €1,040.00 (net, reverse charge applies)
• For businesses in Germany: €1,237.60 (incl. 19% VAT)

Regular Registration Fee (from 15 April 2026):

• For private customers in the EU: €1,365.00 + VAT of the billing country (example Germany: €1,624.35 incl. 19% VAT)
• For private customers outside the EU: €1,624.35 (incl. 19% VAT)
• For businesses within the EU (excl. Germany, with valid VAT ID): €1,365.00 (net, reverse charge applies)
• For businesses in Germany: €1,624.35 (incl. 19% VAT)

Important VAT Information:

• For private customers with a billing address in an EU country: VAT will be charged at the applicable rate in the country of the billing address. The final amount, including VAT, will be calculated upon invoicing.
• For customers with a non-EU (third country) billing address: Only a non-company billing address is accepted for VAT compliance reasons. 19% VAT applies to all non-EU private customers.
• For businesses within the EU (excluding Germany), Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland, and the UK with a valid VAT ID: The reverse charge mechanism applies (net price; VAT will not be charged). Please ensure your valid VAT ID is entered correctly during registration.
• For all customers with a billing address in Germany: 19% VAT applies.

Please submit your registration using our online form below. Closer to the event, you will receive further login details to join the web session.

Your registration is binding. Cancellation is only possible up to 2 weeks before the first day of the event. If you cancel later, the full participation fee is due. You may appoint someone to take your place but must notify us in advance. EAA has the right to cancel the event if the minimum number of participants is not reached.

We will send you an invoice via email. Please allow a few days for handling. Please always give your invoice number when you effect payment. All bank charges are to be borne by the participant.

Registration is open until two working days before the web session. If registration has already been closed for this web session, please call us or send an email to contact@actuarial-academy.com in order to find out whether a late registration is still possible.