News
Berkshire posts steepest Q3 underwriting decline among US carriers
Berkshire Hathaway’s insurance underwriting earnings fell 43% in the third quarter of 2026, dropping to $1.35 billion from $2.37 billion a year earlier, according to the conglomerate’s Q3 earnings release filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The decline was the steepest among major US carriers that have reported third-quarter results.
The divergence across carrier results matters for brokers assessing where to place business heading into January 2027 renewals. Carriers absorbing higher personal auto losses or casualty reserve deterioration may tighten appetite or adjust pricing in those segments, while those with stronger underwriting positions could compete more aggressively for accounts.
GEICO, one of the largest personal lines carriers in the US, was the primary driver of Berkshire’s underwriting drop. The unit reported a combined ratio of 84.5% for Q3 2026, with management citing higher claims frequency, increased average severity, and rising commissions and advertising expenses.
AI in Insurance
AI could unlock $100B in insurance value without replacing brokers
Artificial intelligence is already reshaping insurance distribution, but brokers are unlikely to disappear as automation advances. Instead, AI could create more than $100 billion in new annual value for the insurance industry over the next five to seven years by improving pricing, streamlining operations, strengthening risk selection and creating demand for new types of coverage, according to a study commissioned by Zywave.
The report, The Broker of the Future 2, examines how AI and other technological developments are changing the economics of insurance distribution. Its findings suggest the industry's primary challenge is not eliminating jobs through automation but addressing a shrinking workforce and preserving the expertise needed to advise clients on complex coverage decisions.
Approximately 400,000 insurance professionals will have retired between 2021 and the end of 2026, based on Bureau of Labor Statistics projections cited in the report.
Allstate’s AI Ecosystem to Include a Personal Agentic Assistant for Customers
The next stop in Allstate’s journey with artificial intelligence – a personal agentic assistant for consumers.
CEO Tom Wilson revealed that customers could expect an Allstate PAA early in 2027. He said the PAA has been in development for more than a year.
“The foundational technology is in place…the algorithms are being tested,” he said.
“We want to give customers more value every day in as many ways as we can, including leveraging technology, and having a PAA will enable more people to come to us,” Wilson said during an earnings with analysts. “If they don’t feel like calling an Allstate agent – or feel like getting on our website – and they just want to have a PAA do that, we’re fine with that.”
InsurGrid Launches AI-Powered Policy Change Monitoring to Flag Cancellations, Non-Renewals and Coverage Changes for P&C Agencies
InsurGrid, the policy data collection and AI workflow platform for property and casualty insurance agencies, today launched Policy Change Monitoring. The release automatically refreshes declaration pages and policy data for connected clients every 15 days, uses AI-powered extraction to turn the updated documents into structured policy data, and alerts agencies when a policy is cancelled, reinstated, renewed, not renewed, or materially changed.
Until now, the policy data an agency collected at intake started going stale as soon as it was saved. Carriers change premiums, adjust limits and deductibles, add or drop vehicles and drivers, and issue non-renewals, and agents usually find out when the client calls or the renewal arrives. Policy Change Monitoring keeps that data current and shows agents what changed, so producers can reach clients while there is still time to remarket.
The timing reflects a more volatile market. J.D. Power's 2025 U.S. Insurance Shopping Study found that 57% of auto insurance customers shopped for a new policy in the past year, up from 49% and the highest rate in the study's 19-year history.
ACORD’s Kellington Sees AI Opening for Industry Rethink
John Kellington sees the industry’s embrace of AI as an opportunity to reconsider how insurance operates—and what technology and standards must provide to support it. As the newly appointed CEO of ACORD (Little Falls, N.J.), he wants to bring industry participants together around a shared vision of how their work could become more fluid, consistent and less burdened by processing obstacles.
“Because of AI, people are expecting change,” Kellington says.
He returns to ACORD with experience developing its standards and architecture, then applying them as a carrier CIO. That experience informs both his enthusiasm for what the industry could achieve and his recognition that even functioning data exchanges can leave users relying on manual intervention and additional technology.
“Should the industry step back a little bit and ask, ‘Knowing what we know now, how would we design our processes and workflows?’” he asks.
His proposed approach combines that broader reassessment with practical, incremental steps toward it, including wider use of ACORD’s Reference Architecture within insurers’ technology organizations.
Regulation & Public Policy
APCIA Annual Meeting 2026: Affordability, AI and Legal System Abuse
The annual meeting discussed affordability, AI and legal system abuse.
The American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA) hosted its annual meeting in Boston Nov. 1-3. With election day concluding on the final day of the meeting, politics and the potential implications of the midterm elections took center stage.
Among presentations and discussions in the hallways, two themes dominated. First, the cost of living as reflected in the affordability of food, lodging, education and healthcare. Second, artificial intelligence (AI), its regulation and the impact it is having on the insurance industry, from underwriting and claims through distribution. David Bell, APCIA board chair and president and CEO of ALPS Property & Casualty Insurance Company, shared his perspective on the industry’s state of affairs.
He discussed the ongoing challenges of social inflation and the legislative need for transparency, equitable taxation, and reasonable attorney conduct in third-party litigation funding.
Climate/Resilience/Sustainability
Severe Space Weather Could Cost Trillions and Challenges Traditional Insurance
A Carrington-class solar storm could cause global losses ranging from hundreds of billions to several trillion dollars, according to a paper from Acrisure Re produced in cooperation with ETH Zurich.
Severe space weather is an emerging systemic risk to modern society, according to Acrisure Re and ETH Zurich.
Earth-directed coronal mass ejections can induce currents that damage power grids and disrupt satellites, GPS and communications, as demonstrated by the 1989 Quebec blackout and the May 2024 Gannon storm, the paper said.
Estimates cited in the report put the recurrence of a Carrington-class storm — an 1859 event regarded as one of the most intense geomagnetic storms in recorded history — at roughly 80 to 420 years, and the paper said a repeat event today could cause global losses of hundreds of billions to several trillion dollars, driven mainly by prolonged grid outages. The report said the peril is highly accumulative and can cause losses without physical damage, making it poorly suited to traditional cover, while its objective, publicly measured triggers make it a good fit for parametric solutions.
Financial Results
Liberty Mutual’s personal lines premiums shrink as reserve releases prop up Q3 results
Liberty Mutual’s third-quarter results showed its US personal lines business shrinking and underlying margins weakening, with large reserve releases cushioning the headline figures.
The Boston-based mutual insurer reported net income of $2.07 billion, down from $2.22 billion a year earlier. Its combined ratio rose to 89.5% from 84.7%. For the first nine months, net income rose 32.6% to $6.75 billion and the combined ratio improved 1.4 points to 88.1%, helped by much lower catastrophe losses than in 2025, when the Los Angeles wildfires struck.
“With the strongest capital position in our history, we will remain disciplined and pursue profitable growth amid changing market dynamics,” said Tim Sweeney, chairman and chief executive.
Hannover Re delivers 7% rise in net income. P&C CoR improves with large losses below budget - Reinsurance News
Global reinsurer Hannover Re delivered a 6.9% year-on-year rise in net income to €2.1 billion for the first nine months of 2026, as the property and casualty (P&C) reinsurance combined ratio strengthened to 83.7%, with large losses in the period comfortably below expectation.
Group-wide, Hannover Re has today announced gross reinsurance revenue of €19.5 billion for 9M’26, down on the prior year’s €19.7 billion. The net reinsurance service result increased by €200 million year-on-year to €2.6 billion.
Research
U.S. Auto Insurance Shopping and Switching Research Report: Examining Why Consumers Shop, Stay and Switch
Some key findings show: REPORT
- Price remains a key factor in the decision to stay or switch. Among consumers who switch carriers, 86% cite price as a factor in their decision.
- Shopping does not always signal an intent to switch, with 72% of auto policy holders open to switching and only 17% definitely planning to switch.
- The shopping experience is easier than many consumers expect. The majority of consumers surveyed (87%) say the auto insurance shopping experience was easier than expected or met their expectations.
- Bundling can strengthen retention, but it doesn’t eliminate shopping. While bundled policies still exhibit higher retention, bundling alone no longer prevent consumers from evaluating their options.
Announcements
Wells Media Group Launches Partner Perspective Across Insurance Journal and Carrier Management
Wells Media Group, Inc. today announced the launch of Partner Perspective, a sponsored thought leadership program across Insurance Journal and Carrier Management. The program gives companies a platform to share expertise, address industry challenges and build visibility with the insurance professionals they want to reach.
"Our clients have valuable expertise to share, and our audiences are looking for ideas that help them understand challenges and make better business decisions," said Josh Carlson, CEO of Wells Media Group. "Partner Perspective strengthens that connection, combining our established media platforms with more opportunities for companies to contribute useful industry insights."
The program offers options for individual articles and ongoing series, with distribution tailored to each publication's audience.
Podcast Sponsor
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