A parametric insurance solution designed to protect winegrowers against downy mildew

WTW (Willis Towers Watson) is one of the world’s leading advisory and insurance brokerage firms. Operating in more than 140 countries, the group supports companies and professionals in managing risk, optimising insurance coverage and developing innovative solutions in response to economic, climatic and regulatory change.

In France, WTW relies on specialised teams, particularly in the agricultural, viticultural and agrifood sectors. Their approach is rooted in deep field expertise, a strong understanding of growers’ economic realities and the ability to structure insurance programmes adapted to complex and fast-evolving risks.

In a context of climate disruption and increasing pressure on winegrowers, WTW has committed to developing innovative solutions designed to complement traditional insurance schemes.

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The winegrowing sector is undergoing a profound transformation, driven by the growing intensity and frequency of climate-related events.

WTW identified several major challenges:

• The rise of climatic and fungal risks
  Frost, excess rainfall, drought, heatwaves, as well as fungal diseases such as downy mildew, whose frequency and economic impact have increased significantly in recent years.
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• Risks insufficiently covered by traditional insurance
  Downy mildew has historically been excluded from multi-risk agricultural insurance contracts, leaving winegrowers exposed to substantial losses, both in terms of yield reduction and increased treatment costs.
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• The need for simple, fast and objective solutions
  Growers require clear guarantees, triggered without complex loss assessment, with rapid and predictable compensation mechanisms.
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• A strong time-to-market constraint
  Given the urgency of climate challenges, new solutions had to be brought to market quickly, while ensuring technical reliability, insurance robustness and regulatory compliance.

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To address these challenges, WTW designed, together with insurer Seyna, an innovative parametric solution dedicated to downy mildew risk: Vign’Protect Mildiou.

The partnership was built on a strong complementarity between WTW’s sector expertise and Seyna’s technology, through its JUMP platform.

The solution is based on several key pillars:

• Parametric insurance built on objective data
  Compensation is triggered using meteorological indices, particularly rainfall data, with no loss declaration and no on-site loss assessment.
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• Coverage designed around real-world winegrowing practices
  Two types of protection are offered: one covering additional input and treatment costs, and the other covering crop losses resulting from strong downy mildew pressure.
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• Rapid deployment enabled by JUMP technology
  Leveraging an existing and proven technological foundation, Seyna was able to connect relevant data sources via APIs, configure algorithms and adapt pricing without starting from scratch.
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• A solution easy to distribute and subscribe
  The product was designed to be straightforward to understand, sell and integrate into WTW’s distribution processes, regardless of the size of the vineyard.

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The collaboration between WTW and Seyna led to the launch of a unique offering on the French wine insurance market.

Key outcomes include:

• The launch of the first parametric insurance dedicated to downy mildew risk
• Coverage of risks previously considered uninsurable under traditional schemes
• Automatic and rapid compensation, paid within days once trigger conditions are confirmed
• An accessible solution for a wide range of profiles: independent winegrowers, cooperatives, family estates and premium vineyards
• The ability to continuously evolve the product through joint monitoring and a project-based collaboration model

Beyond the product itself, WTW and Seyna see their partnership as a long-term collaboration, driven by a shared ambition to continue developing parametric solutions that support agricultural professionals in the face of climate change.