Increased underwriting capacity and competition between insurers helped maintain favourable trading conditions across much of the global commercial insurance market in the third quarter of 2026, according to Aon, a global professional services firm providing risk management, insurance broking and advisory services.
In its latest Global Insurance Market Insights report, the company identified a continued easing of premium rates across several major classes of business.
Aon found that property insurance experienced the most pronounced rate reductions during the period. Businesses presenting well-managed exposures frequently secured double-digit decreases in the US, UK, continental Europe and parts of Latin America, reflecting the availability of capacity and insurers’ willingness to compete for business.
Pricing in casualty insurance also moved downwards across markets outside the US. Cyber insurance remained competitive, although reductions became less pronounced in certain territories as insurers responded to increasingly complex exposures and unfavourable claims experience.
The report indicated that directors’ and officers’ liability insurance continued to benefit from competitive underwriting conditions, but the pace of rate decreases slowed after a prolonged period of falling premiums. Conditions were less favourable in US casualty and motor insurance, where litigation activity, rising claims costs and social inflation continued to place pressure on underwriting results.
Aon observed that increased competition had not resulted in insurers abandoning underwriting discipline. Instead, carriers continued to assess submissions according to the quality of exposure information, the effectiveness of risk controls and the overall presentation of individual risks.
“Favourable market conditions give clients an opportunity to strengthen their risk programs, not simply reduce cost,” said Christian Hoffman, CEO of Commercial Risk, Aon. “Clients can use better exposure data to test limits and retentions and consider where savings can be reinvested to build greater resilience. Strong data and a clear understanding of risk remain critical to achieving the best outcomes. As the market continues to evolve, clients should be looking at the choices available to them across both traditional and alternative sources of capital.”
Beyond movements in premium rates, Aon highlighted a shift in how insurance capacity is being financed, with a broader range of investors becoming involved in supporting commercial risks. The company said established reinsurers had maintained strong financial positions, while favourable treaty renewal conditions helped sustain the availability of capacity during 2026.
At the same time, institutional investors and alternative capital providers have been increasing their participation through longer-term commitments, supplementing the funding supplied by conventional insurance and reinsurance markets. Aon suggested that this wider distribution of capital could make the market less dependent on individual sources of capacity and provide additional options for businesses seeking insurance protection.
The report found that organisations with detailed exposure information and demonstrable risk management standards were particularly well placed to consider different insurers, negotiate coverage arrangements and evaluate alternative approaches to transferring risk.
These options increasingly include captive insurance arrangements, parametric cover and structured risk transfer solutions, which Aon said could help businesses manage financial uncertainty and adapt insurance programmes to their specific requirements.The relatively limited scale of natural catastrophe losses during the first three quarters of the year also contributed to the competitive property insurance environment.
Although 2026 included several notable events, Aon reported that overall catastrophe activity had remained comparatively subdued, reducing pressure from claims and supporting the availability of property insurance capacity. Events highlighted in the report included an earthquake in Venezuela during June, consecutive periods of extreme heat across Europe and severe thunderstorms affecting several regions of the US.
The company also noted that insured losses associated with severe convective storms in the US were developing at a lower level than the elevated experience recorded between 2023 and 2025, notwithstanding record tornado activity in certain Midwestern areas. However, Aon warned against treating the absence of particularly severe catastrophe losses as an indication that underlying physical risks had decreased.
The report pointed to the possibility of substantial losses arising from a single major storm, even during a hurricane season expected to produce below-average activity. It therefore identified catastrophe modelling, exposure assessment and resilience planning as continuing priorities for businesses with vulnerable assets.
Alongside these more established insurance considerations, Aon identified two areas of technological development that are expected to have a growing influence on commercial risk: the expansion of data centre infrastructure and the wider use of artificial intelligence. The company reported that substantial investment in data centres and the electricity generation facilities required to support them was creating additional demand for insurance protection.
Such developments involve exposures at multiple stages, including initial construction, equipment testing, commissioning and the transition into operational use. Aon said the size and technical complexity of these projects were requiring insurers to consider both the amount of capacity they could provide and the suitability of existing underwriting approaches.
The company referred to its Power Lifecycle Program, introduced alongside its Data Center Lifecycle Insurance Program, as an example of efforts to provide more coordinated insurance arrangements for developers and infrastructure owners. Artificial intelligence presents a separate set of insurance questions, particularly concerning the extent to which existing policies respond to losses involving the technology.
According to Aon, insurers in Canada have started examining potential silent AI exposures, where coverage may apply to AI-related incidents despite the absence of specific references to the technology in policy documentation.
In European markets, the report identified increasing attention to the potential for AI-related corporate statements and disclosures to generate directors’ and officers’ liability claims or securities litigation. Aon expects insurers to place greater emphasis on how businesses implement AI systems, supervise their use and communicate associated risks when assessing insurance renewals.
The company also noted that policy exclusions relating to AI are likely to receive closer scrutiny as insurers refine coverage terms. It said restrictions should be considered in relation to the actual exposures involved, rather than solely on whether an organisation uses artificial intelligence.
Despite the generally competitive conditions described in the report, Aon indicated that businesses should not assume current pricing trends will continue indefinitely. The company suggested that lower premiums could provide an opportunity to reassess the adequacy of existing protection, review deductible and retention levels and consider whether additional insurance capacity would be appropriate.
Aon also reported a growing focus among clients on understanding the financial consequences of individual exposures and identifying which risk management measures could provide the greatest benefit.To support this approach, the firm recently introduced its Property Risk Diagnostic and Casualty Risk Diagnostic tools, designed to provide more detailed analysis of risk exposures and the factors contributing to potential losses.
The report concluded that greater capital availability and competition were continuing to improve options for many insurance purchasers, although differences in underwriting performance, catastrophe exposure and emerging technological risks were likely to remain influential in determining future market conditions.
