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There is plenty of opportunity for insurers in the product liability market as emerging technologies and products bring previously unimagined risks. More than ever, underwriters must be intimately acquainted with evolving technologies and with their customers' and prospective customers' changing risks and coverage needs. The upshot: "Carriers are becoming more specialized in order to meet the unique needs of their customers," says Lane Schaffer, head of General Liability Product for Middle Market, The Hartford.

Computerized products are presenting challenges that were unknown a few years ago. "As products become more digitalized and cyber-infused, loss scenarios can be imagined that draw a fine line between products liability and cyber," says Sean McPhillips, senior vice president and U.S. head of Primary Casualty at Aspen Insurance. "Contractual needs are driving product manufacturers and suppliers to provide product recall, cyber, and pollution insurance as well as products liability." He points out that a hybrid package policy that offers all of these coverages would present one solution for a myriad of needs. "These ancillary coverages often call for specialized underwriting expertise, and the policy would need to capture appropriate rate to provide all of these coverages in one place," McPhillips says.