Research
US Property Insurance Market Update Q! 2025 - Gallagher Specialty
US MARKET OVERVIEW
As we progress through 2025, we are pleased to report that clients with excellent loss experiences are benefiting from more favourable terms during their renewals. This positive trend is supported by an abundance of capacity in both the US domestic and London and international marketplaces.
The strong underwriting performances for both 2023 and 2024 have contributed to a property rating environment that currently remains technically adequate within the industry. Insurers who renewed their treaties at the beginning of the year experienced rate reductions and some improvements in coverage terms, although their retentions have remained unchanged.
While the recent devastating wildfires in California could result in losses of around USD40 billion, the primary impact is expected to mainly affect high-net-worth personal lines insurers and treaty reinsurers underwriting large regional programmes. April 1 renewals largely continued the positive momentum seen at 1.1, with outcomes shaped by individual loss experience and program structure, rather than a significant market-wide shift. The overall market impact of these events will unfold over time, and we will continue to monitor developments closely.
JD Power: Customers Not Happy With Carrier Property Claims Service
Higher premiums and longer wait times make property owners less satisfied with their insurers.
These not-very-surprising results from J.D. Power’s 2025 U.S. Property Claims Satisfaction Study align with today’s climate of increasingly longer claim cycle times and higher costs for homeowners’ insurance.
News
Personal and Commercial Rates Continue to Rise in Q1 2025
Personal and commercial lines insurance rates continued to increase in the first quarter of 2025, according to the latest report from MarketScout, which was published a week after two reports revealed the property & casualty insurance market has returned to underwriting profitability.
Personal insurance rates in the U.S. continued their upward trend in the first quarter of 2025, with the composite rate increasing to 4.9%, up from 4% in the first quarter of 2024, according to the latest market data.
In 2024, U.S.-domiciled p&c insurers collected $1 trillion in annual direct premiums written for the first time ever, according to a report by S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Homeowners insurance led the surge, particularly high-value properties, according to MarketScout. Policies for homes valued over $1 million rose by 7.3%, while those under $1 million increased by 4%. Personal articles rates also jumped significantly, increasing from 2.3% to 4.3% over the quarter.
Homeowners increases were “likely due to the lingering impact of recent California wildfires," said Richard Kerr, CEO of Novatae Risk Group. “Rates are now trending upward and could rise further as we head into hurricane season."
Commercial insurance rates also continued their upward trend in the first quarter of 2025, with the composite rate increasing to 3%.
“Umbrella and excess liability, along with automobile coverages, saw the most significant rate hikes this quarter—both increasing by 6.7%," Kerr said.
In March, Verisk and the American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA) reported that U.S. p&c insurers recorded an underwriting gain of $24.8 billion in 2024, showing significant improvement compared to the underwriting loss of $21.8 billion recorded in 2023.
Los Angeles Wildfires
Consumer group sues to block insurers from adding surcharge following LA fires
A consumer advocacy group filed a lawsuit this week to block insurers from charging California customers for $500 million in costs associated with the deadly Los Angeles fires
California's insurance commission in February ordered insurers doing business in California to provide $1 billion to the FAIR Plan, the state's insurer of last resort, to help it pay out claims related to the LA wildfires. The order allows insurers to recoup half the cost from its policyholders in the form of a one-time fee. The commissioner must approve the costs.
The lawsuit, filed by Consumer Watchdog in Los Angeles, alleges Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara overstepped his authority and violated state laws for allowing for such cost shifting without going through the proper process. Such regulations have never been authorized in California and should have been vetted and approved by the Legislature or other oversight agencies before enforcement, Consumer Watchdog argued. The suit is asking the court to block Lara from approving the requests. There were at least three pending applications to implement a surcharge as of Tuesday, according to Consumer Watchdog.
Commentary/Opinion
Is State Farm General Too Big to Fail? Calif. Rate Hearing Concludes
Executive Summary
During a three-day hearing about State Farm General’s request for an interim emergency homeowners insurance rate increase last week, testimony centered on the financial condition of the California affiliate of State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company.
There was much less discussion of factors used to develop and trend catastrophe and non-catastrophe losses to support an indicated double-digit rate increase.
Susanne Sclafane, Executive Editor, Wells Media Group/Carrier Management
AI in Insurance
n2uitive Launches AI SummaryAssist™ and 1st Draft Transcripts, the Industry’s First Purpose-Built, AI-Driven Recorded Statement Solution for Property and Casualty Insurance Claims Adjusters
New features enable adjusters to focus on the conversation and the customer, not the notetaking, ushering in a new era for recorded statements, from compliance into powerful, actionable insights
n2uitive, a leader in recorded statement lifecycle management solutions for the Property and Casualty insurance industry, has announced the launch of AI SummaryAssist™ and 1st Draft Transcripts, which demonstrated an immediate 30% productivity increase among adjusters during initial testing.
InsurTech/M&A/Finance💰/Collaboration
Ageas to buy UK insurance platform esure for $1.7 billion | Reuters
*Ageas (AGES.BR), has agreed to buy British car and home insurer esure from Bain Capital for 1.3 billion pounds ($1.7 billion) in a move that will create the third largest personal lines platform in the UK.
The deal, set to be closed in the second half of 2025, will allow Ageas's UK division to widen its target customer demographics and grow its revenues to 3.25 billion pounds by 2028, the Belgian insurance group said on Monday.
Summary
- Ageas to become UK's 3rd biggest personal lines insurer
- $1.7 bln deal to be closed in 2nd half of 2025
- To boost UK revenues to 3.25 bln pounds by 2028
- Consolidation to be finished by 2028
Awards
Two insurance carriers set the pace for mobile service in 2025
Keynova Group: Incorporating mobile device capabilities into policyholder and prospect actions makes it easier and quicker for users to complete tasks.
Among the top P&C insurance carriers in the U.S., two stand out for mobile-app and mobile-web customer engagement, according to the Q1 2025 Mobile Insurance Scorecard conducted by the digital financial services intelligence firm Keynova Group.
“Mobile tends to be the primary and preferred channel for younger populations,” Keynova Group Managing Director Beth Robertson said in a recent interview. Among more mature insurance consumers, insurance mobile app and browser use “is increasing,” she added.
Keynova’s Mobile Insurance Scorecard surveyed mobile app and browser experiences, usage and services offered by the top dozen insurance carriers in the U.S. The research determined that GEICO has the best mobile-app service while Progressive wins for mobile-web experience.
A quarter of carriers use an app-embedded browser to deliver educational content, while 17% employ a similar in-app solution to support cross-sell and new policy quoting, according to the Keynova Group Q1 2025 Mobile Insurance Scorecard. Forty-two percent of carriers now offer a single app for both servicing and telematics, building recurring app usage and creating a higher-value channel for engaging policyholders.
Recommended Events
AM Best to Lead Sessions at The Annual InsurTech Hartford Symposium
AM Best will participate in one panel and one roundtable discussion at the annual InsurTech Hartford Symposium, which is scheduled for April 29-30, 2025, at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford, CT.
Sridhar Manyem, senior director, Industry Research and Analytics, AM Best, will moderate a panel session, titled, “Regulatory Challenges and Compliance: Adapting to New Rules While Fostering Innovation.” The discussion will focus on current and emerging regulations affecting insurtech companies, and panelists will share strategies for balancing compliance with innovation and staying ahead of regulatory changes. Manyem is the head of AM Best’s industry research team and oversees publishing of the company’s perspectives on topical issues.
AM Best will also be represented by Dawn Walker, associate director, Industry Relations – DUAE, who will moderate a roundtable discussion, titled, “Tech-Enabled MGAs: Aligning Interests Through Data-Driven Distribution.” This roundtable will look at how technology is reshaping insurance distribution with a focus on how delegated underwriting authority enterprises (DUAE) are uniquely positioned to leverage data and digital platforms to optimize alignment between insurers, managing general agents (MGA) and distribution partners. Walker joined AM Best in 2022, with an extensive background in risk management.
AM Best is a media partner for the symposium, which is hosted by InsurTech Hartford. Founded in 2016, InsurTech Hartford aims to drive industry innovation with global startup, agent/broker, carrier, solution provider and investor constituents. To learn more about the InsurTech Hartford Symposium, please visit the event website.
Embedded Insurance
Progressive appoints Volvo’s insurance agency
Progressive has appointed Volvo Car Financial Services U.S., LLC as an agency partner.
The appointment, effective April 2, 2025, was made by both Progressive County Mutual Insurance Company and Progressive Casualty Insurance Company.
Volvo Car Financial Services, based in Mahwah, New Jersey, has previously worked with Liberty Mutual and several Liberty affiliates, including Liberty Mutual Fire and Liberty County Mutual, dating back to 2018.
As background, Volvo currently redirects customers to Liberty Mutual for quotes:
Cyber Risk
Insurance firm Lemonade says breach exposed driver’s license numbers
A recent data breach at the insurance firm Lemonade exposed the driver’s license numbers of thousands of people over the course of 17 months.
The New York-based company began sending breach notification letters in multiple states last week following the discovery of an incident in 2023 and 2024 involving its online application process. Users typically enter their name and address into the Lemonade insurance policy application and a third-party vendor automatically populates a person’s driver’s license number.
A vulnerability within the online application platform for insurance policies resulted in the likely exposure of driver’s license numbers, which “may have been accessed without authorization,” the company said.
An investigation revealed the information was exposed from April 2023 to September 2024. The company says it discovered the issue in March 2025.
Canada
RSA to rebrand as Intact Insurance | RSA Insurance
RSA Insurance today announced it will rebrand and change its trading name to Intact Insurance by the end of 2025.
From the original Sun Fire Office established in 1710 through to its acquisition by Intact Financial Corporation in 2021 and beyond, RSA has always embodied Intact’s founding principle of helping people, businesses and society prosper in good times and be resilient in bad times.
Intact Financial Corporation is the largest provider of Property & Casualty insurance in Canada, a leading Specialty Lines insurer with international expertise, and a leader in Commercial Lines in the UK and Ireland. It has grown organically and through acquisitions to almost CAD$24 billion of total annual direct premiums written, with a global team of 31,000 employees.
To accelerate progress against its strategic objectives, leverage Intact’s deep expertise and unify colleagues around the world, RSA will rebrand to Intact Insurance.
Charles Brindamour, CEO, Intact Financial Corporation said: “The transformation of the UK business since it was acquired by Intact in 2021 has been exceptional. Intact has a global footprint with big aspirations for the future and RSA is already a significant contributor. Aligning under the Intact brand is a natural next step in our strategy to strengthen our leading position in the UK, Europe and Ireland.”
Ken Norgrove, CEO, RSA UK & International commented “Having brought RSA, NIG and FarmWeb together in 2024, we said we would move to one brand in the UK. As part of Intact we operate in an increasingly interconnected world and having a brand that unites our businesses globally will help in our ambition to outperform the market, become the best Commercial insurer and to grow our Specialty Lines business in the UK by leveraging Intact’s global footprint.”
About Intact Financial Corporation Intact Financial Corporation (TSX: IFC) is the largest provider of Property & Casualty (P&C) insurance in Canada, a leading provider of global Specialty insurance, and, with RSA, a leader in the U.K. and Ireland. Our business has grown organically and through acquisitions to CAD$24 billion of total annual premiums.
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