Capacity & capital levels strong for commercial insurance buyers claims Aon

Aon has announced the findings from its Q2 2026 Global Insurance Market Insights report, which found that abundant capacity and strong competition continue to support favourable conditions for commercial insurance buyers across most major lines of business, with rate reductions, broader coverage and improved terms remaining available across many lines. 

At the same time, insurers are increasingly using data, analytics and artificial intelligence to guide underwriting decisions and differentiate risks.

According to the report, insurers are increasingly using data, analytics and artificial intelligence to support underwriting decisions and assess risk quality. While capacity and competition remain the primary drivers of market conditions, AI is enabling more granular and informed risk selection.

High-quality risk information is becoming increasingly important as insurers use analytics and AI to make more targeted underwriting and capital deployment decisions, Aon said.

The ongoing conflict in the Middle East has resulted in heightened underwriting scrutiny across marine, aviation, terrorism, political violence, energy and trade-related risks. Insurers are placing greater emphasis on policy terms, conditions and exposure management.

“The Middle East conflict is driving a differentiated response across the insurance market,” said Christian Hoffman, chief executive of global commercial risk solutions at Aon. “The most pronounced impacts are in marine hull & war, marine P&I, aviation, and terrorism & political violence, where insurers are exercising greater underwriting discipline, repricing risk and placing increased emphasis on policy terms and conditions. Despite these pressures, capacity remains available across all lines for well-managed risks.”

The report also highlights broader business implications of geopolitical instability, including supply chain disruption, energy price volatility and heightened concerns around contingent business interruption exposures.

Beyond geopolitical developments, the report identifies claims inflation as an ongoing concern across property, casualty and specialty lines. Rising labour, transportation and repair costs continue to impact the value of property claims, while liability claims remain affected by higher legal, medical and settlement costs.

These pressures continue to weigh most heavily on commercial automobile and US casualty, which remain notable exceptions to otherwise favourable market conditions.

Taken together, Aon said that its study finds that current market conditions present an opportunity for organisations to strengthen insurance programs and optimise risk transfer strategies before market conditions tighten.

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