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Commercial insurance pricing set to ease further - Business Insurance Skip to content Register for free Search Search Log In Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2026 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2026 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2026 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2026 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Commercial insurance pricing set to ease further by Gavin Souter Agents and Brokers , P/C Insurers , P/C Pricing Aon , Coalition , EPIC , Willis Towers Watson , Zurich Oct 13, 2026 COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado – Commercial insurance buyers will likely see more favorable market conditions heading into 2027, with further declines in property rates and moderating increases in some liability lines, insurance executives say. Abundant capacity and competition are driving property rates lower, but insurers remain concerned about rising liability claims costs, particularly for excess and umbrella coverage, and about the sustainability of property pricing. The executives spoke last week at the Insurance Leadership Forum, sponsored by the Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers. The annual event brings senior executives from brokerages, insurers and other insurance-related companies to The Broadmoor resort at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, where they hold numerous individual meetings. The meeting occurred before Hurricane Isaias hit the Gulf Coast. According to news reports, the storm caused at least four deaths, but initial loss estimates suggested it was unlikely to materially affect property insurance pricing. Liability exposures could ultimately trigger the next major capital event for insurers, said Marc Kunney, San Francisco-based chief client officer at EPIC Insurance Brokers & Consultants. “I suspect the next capital event for insurers is not going to be a hurricane or a natural catastrophe, but it will be the long-tail nature of casualty reserves,” he said. Excess and umbrella liability, commercial auto, products liability and public entity liability remain challenging because of rising claim severity and the potential for adverse reserve development, Mr. Kunney said. Primary general liability rates are increasing by low single digits, but excess liability rates in North America continue to rise by double digits, said Pat Donnelly, Chicago-based head of risk and broking for North America at Willis. Increased insurer appetite and capacity for well-managed primary liability risks have helped moderate rate increases, but the market has not turned soft, he said. Liability insurers continue to raise rates, but those increases are roughly keeping pace with loss trends in most cases, said Alex Wells, CEO of Zurich U.S. Higher court awards and settlements, along with third-party litigation funding, continue to drive claims costs higher, while reinsurers remain reluctant to reduce liability pricing, he said. “I think the competition will continue, and that will keep us from a really hard market in casualty,” Mr. Wells said. Liability pricing is moderating in some areas, but the changes are less pronounced than in property, said Danny Kaufman, president of Burns & Wilcox and co-president of Farmington Hills, Michigan-based H.W. Kaufman Group. “In pockets it is, but definitely we’re not seeing the rate of firming that we’ve seen in the past,” he said. Directors and officers liability insurance rates have been softening for an extended period, while property is falling much more sharply, Mr. Kaufman said. The property market has benefited from strong insurer profitability, abundant capital and increased competition, executives said. Property rate reductions of about 20% are still being achieved on relatively straightforward risks, while more difficult property classes are seeing decreases of 5% or more, Mr. Kunney said. Property rates have fallen sharply, said Steve Boyd, CEO of Brown & Brown’s wholesale and specialty unit Arrowhead Intermediaries. “It’s certainly the most precipitous pricing drop I’ve seen in my career,” he said. The declines follow several years of substantial rate increases and reflect excess capacity and growing competition, Mr. Boyd said. Legislative changes in Florida have also improved conditions for insurers in that market, he said. But some business is approaching levels at which profitability becomes questionable, he said. Competition is also affecting coverage terms and conditions. For example, some insurers are incorporating earthquake coverage previously written separately into broader all-risk policies, expanding earthquake definitions to include subsidence or reducing wind deductibles, Mr. Boyd said. “We’re starting to see T&C slip,” Mr. Boyd said. London insurers are also competing for business, with some offering greater flexibility on placements, said Jodi Kaufman Davis, group co-president of H.W. Kaufman Group and vice chair of Atain Insurance Cos. “There’s a hunger for business, so there is some flexibility,” she said. Property rate reductions will likely continue through 2027, although the pace may moderate after several consecutive years of decreases, said Ryan Barber, New York-based global head of property at Aon. The market is “soft on the surface but volatile at the core,” reflecting continuing catastrophe exposures, inflation, supply chain disruptions and geopolitical uncertainty, he said. Cyber insurance rates are also declining, although the pace has slowed from the double-digit reductions recorded earlier in the soft market, said Shawn Ram, San Francisco-based chief revenue officer at cyber insurer Coalition. U.S. cyber insurance rates fell by more than 20% during the early stages of the soft market, which began in late 2022, but decreases have moderated to the mid-single digits this year, he said. “By no means am I claiming we’re going to enter a hard market, but I do think the market is going to stabilize further in terms of pricing, in terms of coverage,” Mr. Ram said. 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