Insurance is changing quickly. Severe weather, sophisticated cyberattacks, artificial intelligence, rising repair costs, and changing legal risks are influencing how policies are priced and what insurers require from their customers.
For families and business owners, these trends make it increasingly important to review coverage, understand exclusions, and take practical steps to reduce risk. Here are three of the most important insurance topics in 2026.
1. Property Insurance Is Becoming More Focused on Risk Prevention
Wildfires, severe thunderstorms, hurricanes, flooding, and other natural disasters continue to affect property insurance availability and pricing. Insurers are using more detailed information, including satellite imagery, catastrophe models, building characteristics, and geographic data, to evaluate individual properties.
Natural catastrophes are now regularly producing more than $100 billion in worldwide insured losses annually, keeping climate and catastrophe exposure near the top of insurers’ concerns. Markel’s 2026 insurance trend analysis identifies elevated catastrophe losses and climate risk as major factors affecting underwriting.
However, the insurance market is not moving in only one direction. According to Marsh’s Global Insurance Market Index, global commercial property rates declined during the second quarter of 2026 as capacity and insurer competition improved. The best results, however, continued to go to properties with strong risk management.
What property owners should do
Homeowners and business owners should look beyond the premium and ask:
- Is the building insured for its current replacement cost?
- Are flood, earthquake, sewer backup, and equipment breakdown excluded?
- Does the policy include ordinance or law coverage?
- Are roofs, electrical systems, plumbing, and heating systems properly maintained?
- Are wildfire, wind, water, and security protections documented?
- Would the available loss-of-use or business-interruption coverage last long enough?
Preventive improvements may not eliminate premium increases, but they can make a property more attractive to insurers and reduce the likelihood or severity of a loss.
The takeaway
Insurance is increasingly becoming a partnership in risk prevention. Property owners who maintain their buildings, document improvements, and address hazards early may have more coverage options than those who wait until renewal to react.
2. Cyber Insurance Is Becoming Essential for Small Businesses
Cybercrime is no longer only a large-company concern. Small and midsize businesses are frequently targeted because criminals expect them to have fewer security controls.
The threats are also changing. While ransomware remains serious, many losses now begin with an email. An employee may receive a realistic message that appears to come from an executive, customer, vendor, or financial institution. Artificial intelligence can make these scams more convincing by helping criminals create polished emails, cloned voices, and realistic fake communications.
Coalition’s analysis of claims from more than 100,000 policyholders found that business email compromise and funds-transfer fraud accounted for 58% of reported cyber claims. It also found that 71% of funds-transfer fraud claims resulted directly from social engineering. Initial ransomware demands increased 47%, averaging more than $1 million. Coalition 2026 Cyber Claims Report
What cyber insurance may cover
Depending on the policy, cyber insurance may help with:
- Data restoration and system recovery
- Cyber extortion and ransomware response
- Business interruption
- Customer notification
- Forensic investigations
- Legal and regulatory expenses
- Public relations and reputation management
- Funds-transfer fraud and social engineering
- Claims brought by customers or other affected parties
Not every cyber policy automatically includes every one of these protections. Social-engineering and funds-transfer coverage may have separate limits, conditions, or verification requirements.
Security and insurance must work together
Businesses should consider implementing:
- Multifactor authentication
- Regular data backups stored separately from the network
- Employee phishing and fraud training
- Software updates and security patches
- Payment-verification procedures
- Restricted administrative privileges
- A written incident-response plan
One particularly effective practice is to require employees to verify any unusual request to change bank information or transfer funds by calling a known telephone number—not the contact information included in the request.
The takeaway
Cyber insurance can provide financial protection and access to specialized response services, but it should be paired with strong security practices. The goal is not simply to recover from an attack. It is to prevent the attack from succeeding.
3. Artificial Intelligence Is Changing Underwriting and Claims
Artificial intelligence is quickly becoming part of nearly every stage of the insurance process. Insurers are using it to analyze applications, inspect properties, identify fraud, estimate damage, evaluate renewals, assist customers, and process claims.
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners reports that insurers are using or exploring AI and machine-learning models across auto, home, life, and health insurance. In its industry surveys, 88% of responding auto insurers and 70% of responding homeowners insurers said they use, plan to use, or plan to explore these technologies.
AI may help insurers:
- Process applications faster
- Review photographs of property or vehicle damage
- Identify missing information
- Detect patterns associated with fraud
- Provide faster customer service
- Recognize risks before they result in a claim
- Create more individualized underwriting decisions
But greater automation also creates important questions about accuracy, privacy, transparency, and fairness. An incorrect property record, outdated inspection image, or inaccurate consumer report could influence an underwriting decision.
State regulators are therefore emphasizing written AI-governance programs, consumer protection, fairness, and human oversight. The NAIC says insurers remain responsible for complying with insurance laws even when automated systems support their decisions.
What consumers should do
If an insurance decision appears to be based on inaccurate information:
- Ask the insurer or agent for a clear explanation.
- Request the opportunity to correct outdated or incorrect records.
- Provide photographs, receipts, inspections, or other supporting documents.
- Ask whether a human underwriter can review the decision.
- Keep copies of all communications.
Technology may make insurance faster, but professional advice remains valuable. An experienced insurance agent can help identify incorrect assumptions, explain coverage differences, and advocate for a more complete review.
What These Trends Have in Common
Climate risk, cybercrime, and artificial intelligence may appear to be separate issues, but they share one important lesson: insurance can no longer be treated as a product that is purchased once and forgotten.
Today’s policyholders need to be more proactive. That means maintaining property, improving cybersecurity, correcting inaccurate information, understanding exclusions, and reviewing coverage regularly.
Is It Time for an Insurance Review?
A good insurance review should address more than price. It should determine whether your policies reflect your current property values, business operations, technology risks, liability exposures, and financial needs.
Consider scheduling a review if you have recently:
- Renovated or purchased property
- Added vehicles, equipment, or employees
- Increased your use of technology
- Started accepting online payments
- Changed vendors or business operations
- Experienced a significant increase in revenue
- Received a large renewal increase
- Gone several years without reviewing your coverage
The insurance marketplace is changing, but preparation still makes a difference. Talk with an experienced independent insurance agent to identify potential gaps, compare available options, and build an insurance program designed for the risks you face today not the risks you faced several years ago.