Willis Reports Steep Drop in Commercial Property Insurance Rates
News related to:Willis · 1 min read
NEW YORK, Oct. 01, 2026 /CourierPR/ -- Willis, a WTW business, released its fall 2026 Insurance Marketplace Realities report, revealing a significant shift in commercial property insurance rates. According to the report, large and complex property rates fell an average of 14.5 percent in the second quarter of 2026, marking the sharpest decline in a decade. This decline is attributed to increased competition among insurers, with shared and layered programs, placements with five or more carriers, experiencing even steeper drops of 23.41 percent, up from 14.57 percent in the second quarter of 2025.
The market has moved from the depths of the 2018 through 2024 hard market toward pricing last seen in 2019, indicating a significant softening in the insurance landscape.
The report also addresses global insured catastrophe losses, which reached 107 billion dollars in 2025, marking the sixth consecutive year above 100 billion. However, the first half of 2026 produced the lowest total since 2020. Despite this, the market remains under pressure, with auto liability and high hazard general liability risks continuing to face challenges. Cyber rates are holding roughly flat, with a 5 percent decrease to a 5 percent increase, and the report urges buyers to reinvest any savings into higher limits given the continued rise of AI-enabled ransomware and data exfiltration threats.
In the casualty segment, auto liability and general/excess liability lines (including lead umbrella) for high hazard risks remain under pressure from nuclear verdicts and social inflation. The report also highlights early indications that rate increases in the excess casualty market may be nearing their peak, driven in part by new capacity entering the market through broker-led facilities, including WTW’s Gemini, as well as newly established managing general agents and underwriting agents.
The full Insurance Marketplace Realities report, covering rate predictions across major product lines, professional liability lines, and specialty lines and solutions, is available for review.