News
Lower Q1 cat losses bolster reinsurance capacity
Global insured catastrophe losses fell below average in the first quarter of 2026, despite widespread weather-related events, leaving insurers and reinsurers well positioned heading into this year’s hurricane season, according to a Gallagher Re report released Tuesday.
Global economic losses from natural catastrophes totaled about $58 billion in the quarter, down 12% from the 10-year average, while insured losses were about $20 billion, 26% below average.
The relatively modest insured loss reflected the absence of a single large industry event exceeding $10 billion, even as 17 separate billion-dollar economic loss events occurred during the period.
In the United States, winter and severe convective storms were among the largest insured-loss events, including a late-January storm that caused about $4 billion in insured damage.
The below-average losses continue a recent trend, with the first quarter marking the fourth consecutive period in which insured catastrophe losses were below $40 billion, Gallagher Re said.
As a result, reinsurers enter the historically more active second and third quarters with strong capital positions. The report estimates that it would take a catastrophe or series of events generating at least $115 billion to $125 billion in insured losses to significantly alter current pricing trends in the property market.
EPA History: Earth Day
Happy Earth Day 2026
It may be hard to imagine that before 1970, a factory could spew black clouds of toxic smoke into the air or dump tons of toxic waste into a nearby stream, and that was perfectly legal. They could not be taken to court to stop it.
How was that possible? Because there was no EPA, no Clean Air Act, no Clean Water Act. There were no legal or regulatory mechanisms to protect our environment.
In spring 1970, Senator Gaylord Nelson created Earth Day as a way to force this issue onto the national agenda. Twenty million Americans demonstrated in different U.S. cities, and it worked! In December 1970, Congress authorized the creation of a new federal agency to tackle environmental issues, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Financial Results
Chubb Reports First Quarter Per Share Net Income and Core Operating Income; P&C Combined Ratio of 84.0%
- Net income and core operating income were $2.32 billion and $2.69 billion, respectively, up 74.3% and 80.6%.
- P&C net premiums written were $11.72 billion, up 7.2%, with consumer insurance up 14.2% and commercial insurance up 4.6%.
- North America was up 4.1%, including growth of 8.3% in personal insurance and 2.8% in commercial insurance, or 7.7% excluding large account property, both admitted and E&S.
P&C underwriting income was $1.79 billion, up 306.3%, with a combined ratio of 84.0%. P&C current accident year underwriting income excluding catastrophe losses was $2.01 billion, up 9.8%, with a combined ratio of 82.1%.
Total pre-tax net catastrophe losses were $500 million compared with $1.64 billion last year, which included $1.47 billion from the California wildfires.
Total pre-tax favorable prior period development was $286 million compared with $255 million in the prior year.
Pre-tax net investment income was $1.71 billion, up 9.5%, and adjusted net investment income was $1.84 billion, up 10.1%. Both were records.
Chubb Limited (NYSE: CB) reported net income for the quarter ended March 31, 2026 of $2.32 billion, or $5.88 per share, and core operating income of $2.69 billion, or $6.82 per share.
W. R. Berkley posts record Q1 as specialty carrier defies soft market
W. R. Berkley Corporation delivered record first-quarter operating income and a 21.2% annualized return on equity, with its Q1 2026 insurance results showing the specialty carrier continuing to push rate even as the broader US commercial market softens.
Operating income reached a record $514.3 million, up from $420 million, or $1.05, in Q1 2025. Net income came in at $515.2 million, compared with $417.6 million, or $1.04, a year earlier.
Gross premiums written rose to $3.79 billion from $3.68 billion, while net premiums written edged up to $3.17 billion from $3.13 billion. Within the insurance segment, gross and net premiums written grew 4.5% and 3.2% respectively.
Climate/Resilience/Sustainability
Trump's climate rollbacks are expediting the uninsurable future
The idea of an uninsurable world is becoming less theoretical and closer to reality.
Across the United States, insurers are nonrenewing policies, raising premiums and sometimes withdrawing from regions completely at a pace that is reshaping markets.
Climate change is at the forefront of evolving risk. According to the UN Environment Programme's (UNEP) 2025 Emissions Gap Report, global warming projections over this century sit at 2.3 to 2.5 degrees Celcius. This marks a slight decline from the 2.6 to 2.8 degrees Celcius predicted in the UNEP's 2024 report, but they note that 0.1 degree Celcius of improvement can be attributed to methodological updates.
Increasing global temperatures drive the secondary perils that threaten insurance carriers' bottom lines, and the UNEP's outlook doesn't bode well for improvement in the future.
Many customers in the U.S. have already come face-to-face with what it means to be "uninsurable" as companies pull out of or limit coverage in markets like California and Florida that carry the highest risk of CAT events, forcing them to scramble for coverage.
Though many Americans are being bogged down by insurance stress, Donald Trump's administration is only exacerbating the problem through regulation rollbacks and other climate-unfriendly decisions.
InsurTech/M&A/Finance💰/Collaboration
Another Milestone for Global InsurTech Innovation:
The selection process for the 10th cohort of The Israeli InsurTech Accelerator marks another significant milestone in the development of one of the world’s leading platforms for innovation in the insurance sector.
The event took place at the offices of Migdal Group, one of the partners of the program, and enabled a unique meeting between insurance companies, international partners, and insurtech entrepreneurs – around one shared goal: to turn innovation into real solutions for the insurance world.
11 selected insurtech companies took the stage, with each presenting a different innovative angle across the insurance value chain – from underwriting and claims management to solutions based on data and artificial intelligence.
Alongside this, InsurTech Israel congratulated the companies selected to participate in the festive 10th cohort of the accelerator – LepreCon, Hear.AI, Vyntic, Rubric, ClearPass and Cloud Wise.
According to the management of the program, the very selection to join this cohort out of a highly competitive and high-quality screening process constitutes a significant achievement, and reflects great confidence in the companies’ potential, in the quality of the entrepreneurs, and in their ability to create real impact on the future of the insurance industry in Israel and around the world.
Kobi Bendelak, Insurtech Israel
Confie Expands Retail Footprint with Acquisition of Kemper's Newins Retail P&C Stores
Confie, the nation's largest personal lines insurance distribution company, today announced the acquisition of Kemper's retail property and casualty insurance agency portfolio, known as Newins, further accelerating the company's strategy to scale its presence in key existing markets and serve more customers where they are.
The acquisition includes 72 retail property and casualty locations across Illinois, Texas, Nevada, Arizona, and Indiana—markets where Confie already maintains a strong presence— expanding its ability to serve customers at a local level. The portfolio operates under well-established brands including Illinois Vehicle (IV), A-Abana, and Access Auto. Confie has also welcomed all employees as part of the transaction, ensuring continuity of service and preserving local expertise for customers in these communities.
"This acquisition strengthens our position in key markets and allows us to further scale how we serve customers," said Cesar Soriano, Chief Executive Officer of Confie. "Kemper will remain a valued carrier partner as we continue to support customers across these markets."
Research
Insurity study shows consumer opinions shift about insurance use of AI | Repairer Driven News
A new report released by Insurity found a shift in consumer support for AI use by property and casualty (P&C) insurance companies prior to last year.
The 2026 AI in Insurance Report found 39% of consumers say it is a good idea for their insurance company to use AI to improve services. This is up from 20% in 2025.
About 84% of consumers say they are using AI at least occasionally and 27% say they are using it daily, the report found.
“As AI becomes embedded in writing, workplace productivity, health-related inquiries, and financial comparisons, it is no longer viewed as experimental technology but as part of how consumers make decisions and manage everyday risk,” the release said. “That widespread familiarity is beginning to influence how policyholders assess AI’s role in financial services, including insurance.”
The report also found that resistance is easing. Last year, 44% of consumers said they were less likely to purchase a policy from an insurer that publicly used AI. In 2026, the percentage declined to 36%.
Yet, most consumers have concerns about which tasks AI does for insurance.
“Consumers have moved past the hype cycle,” said Jatin Atre, Insurity president, in the report. “They are not impressed by the fact that insurers are using AI. They care about how it is being used. If AI is deployed simply to cut costs or automate decisions without explanation, trust will erode. If it is deployed to make underwriting smarter, claims faster, and interactions clearer, with real oversight behind it, trust grows. The industry cannot treat AI as a marketing headline. It has to treat it as operating infrastructure.”
Announcements
Fuse unveils Watch, a live peril dashboard for commercial insurance
Fuse International, an AI-powered commercial insurance intelligence platform, has announced the general availability of Watch, a new product that plots every active US peril on a single live map, purpose-built for commercial insurance brokers and underwriters.
According to the announcement, Watch is organised around four views: a Peril Map plotting active events across the continental United States, a Live Feed of insurance-relevant alerts with line-of-business context, a Forecast covering the next three days of severe-weather risk, as well as Market Pulse, a live read on the macro and commodity signals that drive insurance pricing.
The Peril Map covers more than 18 distinct peril categories, which includes tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, hail, lightning, high wind, tropical systems, floods, wildfires, winter weather, earthquakes, and volcanoes. Additional categories reportedly include coastal and tsunami events, landslides, air quality, marine conditions, and visibility, as well as FEMA disaster declarations.
According to Fuse, the Peril Map draws on multiple live data sources, including active watches and warnings from the National Weather Service (NWS), convective outlooks from the NOAA Storm Prediction Center, seismic data from the USGS, and satellite-based hot-spot detection.
Nationwide helps deliver professional women's soccer to Columbus in celebration of the company's centennial year
Nationwide today announced that, together with Haslam Sports Group and the Edwards family, it has been awarded a National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchise in Columbus, officially securing a new professional women's soccer club for Central Ohio. The announcement comes during Nationwide's 100th anniversary year, marking a milestone moment for both the company and Columbus.
"Nationwide was born in Columbus, and we've grown up together over the last 100 years," said Kirt Walker, Nationwide chief executive officer. "As we prepared to celebrate our centennial, we knew we wanted to do something big to give back to the city that has given us so much. Supporting a new professional women's sports franchise in Central Ohio was a unique opportunity we just had to embrace."
"When young athletes in Central Ohio can see women competing at the highest level in their own backyard and see the investment, facilities and visibility match what they see in the men's game, it sends a powerful message about what's possible. We're proud to stand alongside Haslam Sports Group and the Edwards family to help make that a reality in Columbus," Walker added.
Telematics, Driving & Insurance
Baby Boomers Are 2.2 Times More Likely Than Gen Z to Say Car Insurance Fails Safe Drivers, Root Report Finds
When a safe driver with decades of accident-free driving opens a renewal bill and sees their rate unchanged or higher, that’s not an anomaly.
Root’s “The Future of Car Insurance: A Consumer Demand Report,” released today, surveyed and collected responses from 1,000 licensed U.S. drivers and found that frustration with traditional insurance pricing runs deepest among those who have the most to show for their driving record.
Key findings from the report, based on the drivers polled, include the following:
- 95% of drivers want their insurance rates based on their actual driving habits, rather than demographic proxies.
- 77% of drivers say car insurance pricing is outdated compared to today’s auto technology, as car ownership costs climb.
- Root’s proprietary data shows safe drivers who switch to behavior-based pricing save up to 28% on their premiums.
“A driver with 30 years of clean records is being priced against averages that have nothing to do with how they drive. We believe that is a structural failure,” said Alex Timm, Founder and CEO of Root. “Root was built on the premise that your rate should reflect your behavior behind the wheel. This data underscores that the American driver, regardless of age or location, is ready to adopt a more fair model that finally aligns pricing with behavior.”
Awards
Progressive Insurance® Ranks No. 1 on Forbes America's Best Employers for Company Culture 2026 List
Progressive earns the top spot on the Forbes America's Best Employers for Company Culture 2026 list. This recognition highlights the incredible people who truly shape its culture – one where its people are seen, heard, and valued.
"We're honored by this recognition and incredibly proud of the award-winning culture we've built together at Progressive," said Bill Clawson, Progressive's Chief Human Resources Officer. "When you combine a healthy culture with high engagement, real opportunities for career growth, and a chance to make an impact beyond the work, you create a place where people want to stay and do their best in service to each other, our customers, and our communities."
A Company Where Employee Voices are Heard
Listening to employees and acting on their feedback is central to how Progressive builds and sustains its culture. This year, the company launched Progressive Listens, a companywide employee listening initiative to strengthen feedback channels and improve how employees experience communication and collaboration.