Digital Insurance contacted insurance professionals to comment on new and emerging risks to consider for 2026.
Rick McCathron, president and CEO of Hippo
MGAs will continue gaining momentum as insurers seek faster, more flexible ways to serve distinct customer segments and address rapidly evolving risks. Their specialized expertise, data agility, and partnerships with fronting carriers position them to respond quickly to new exposures—from climate-driven property risks to emerging auto technologies like electric, connected, and autonomous vehicles.
As consumers demand more tailored coverage, MGAs will continue to design niche products that align with specific lifestyles, risks, and regions—such as climate-resilient homes, coverage for electric vehicle infrastructure, or parametric options for weather-related losses. This focus on specialization and adaptability will strengthen the role of MGAs as vital connectors between evolving customer needs and carrier capacity, helping insurers stay ahead of the next generation of risk.
Katie Evans, EVP, chief legal officer, CSAA
In 2026, carriers will push back against litigation financing's distortive effects by pairing data-driven defense analytics with policy-level transparency reforms. Expect coordinated industry efforts—model law updates, disclosure mandates and early-resolution protocols—to curb speculative suits and restore proportionality in claims costs without eroding legitimate access to justice.
Mark Holweger, CEO of Banner Life and William Penn
A continued challenge we've seen is the ability to get customers on the phone. To be successful in 2026, advisors and agents will need to find new ways to engage and connect with customers, whether it's leveraging AI and machine learning to build better and faster buying experiences, creating new products, providing enhanced service capabilities, or other strategies.
Alton Kizziah, CEO of Beazley Security
As the interdependence on external software providers continues to expand, even well-secured organizations will find themselves exposed through their less secure partners.
We expect to see a rise in impactful third-party incidents as threat actors increasingly target external software providers, cloud platforms, and managed services that organizations commonly employ to streamline operations and reduce costs. Consequences will include disruptive widespread service outages when major platforms or industry vendors are down, as well as increasing numbers of data breaches and operational disruptions that result in costly and brand-impacting regulatory disclosure and client notification events. These risks will drive investments in increased focus on vendor risk management, deploying Zero Trust architectures, and improving supply chain resilience. As a result, third-party risk will become a board-level concern, driving investment in governance, continuous monitoring, and more rigorous oversight of external partnerships.
Jeremie Saada, head of U.S. executive risk, Beazley
A new challenge is emerging in corporate disclosure: determining the appropriate timing and approach for publicly reporting on tariff impacts, mitigation strategies, and financial implications amid rapidly evolving trade policies. "Tariff-washing" is poised to become the latest in a series of disclosure pitfalls, joining terms like "greenwashing" and "AI-washing" that underscore the risks of miscommunication or omission regarding the impact of tariffs on a business. Whether companies overstate or understate these effects, the consequences are often the same: legal exposure, reputational damage, and loss of stakeholder trust. Today's public comment and disclosure will be held to a standard. To navigate these risks effectively, insurers and compliance teams must collaborate to ensure future risks are communicated transparently and responsibly, reducing the likelihood of regulatory scrutiny or legal action.
Lindsay Shipper, head of commercial property, North America, Beazley
Energy independence has become a strategic priority, driving investment in new builds that can withstand grid instability and climate extremes and so the decentralization of energy will likely continue to reshape property risk in 2026. As businesses invest in independent energy sources (e.g., battery storage, wind farms, and fusion energy), and explore innovations, they gain resilience but face new vulnerabilities. Forward-thinking organizations are already partnering with insurers to ensure their coverage is robust and the shift from risk transfer to risk partnership is key to navigating this high-stakes energy transition. Nuclear energy is also edging back to the table, but stigma still stands in the way and the challenge lies in balancing legacy fears with emerging realities.
Jayson Taylor, head of casualty, MSIG USA
The excess market will remain in hard market conditions. Persistent concerns over nuclear verdicts, combined with ongoing inflationary pressures, will continue to challenge profitability and pricing stability.
Signs of autonomous vehicle integration in commercial trucking are likely to emerge by the end of 2026. As adoption expands, we may see the divergence in auto accidents between insureds that are quick to adopt the technology vs those that might be slower to invest in automation
We expect to see greater adoption of robotics in the workplace. While this will enhance safety by reducing employee exposure to hazardous tasks, it will also introduce new complexities around technology integration, maintenance, and liability.
David Guild, head of financial lines, MSIG USA
D&O will reach an inflection point in 2026, as pricing flattens, and carriers contend with a steady cadence of securities class actions and rising settlement costs. Market profitability concerns are expected to drive carrier consolidation and withdrawals across Financial Lines.
AI-washing will emerge as a key driver of D&O claim frequency, as plaintiffs targeting companies that overstate or misrepresent their AI capabilities in public disclosures. Boards should demonstrate governance through documented model oversight, testing, and accurate disclosures.
Governance and disclosure practices around supply chain risk will be central to underwriting levers, as volatility in global trade and tariffs exposes companies to unforeseen operational and reputational risks. Underwriters will place greater emphasis on stress-testing the responsiveness and flexibility of supply chains amid the ongoing re-setting of international relations and evolving geopolitical dynamics.
Kam Lidhar, director, auto underwriting, insurance, LexisNexis Risk Solutions
As auto insurers head into 2026, risky driving continues to be of concern and how it may impact overall results. In recent analysis, distracted driving continues to rise significantly and some of the other most risky violations such as speeding and DUI remain at elevated rates. As these nationwide trends harden, insurers need to consider optimizing the data they receive today and move to greater underwriting sophistication strategies that can increase segmentation and provide more accurate pricing.
Daniel Woods, principal researcher at Coalition
AI chatbots are an emerging risk for data privacy. Coalition's analysis of nearly 200 privacy-related claims and scans of 5,000 business websites found that 5% of claims targeted chatbot technologies. These claims alleged unlawful interception of customer conversations under state wiretap laws enacted long before such AI tools existed. In the analysis, around 5% of websites deployed chatbot technologies. As more businesses use these chatbots, there will likely be an increase in claims.
Tom Rasmussen, VP, product, claims at Carpe Data
Many so-called "advanced" fraud detection systems flood claims teams with constant pings, red flags, and false positives. This avalanche of noise not only overwhelms adjusters but also erodes trust in the tools themselves, leading professionals to either tune out alerts or fall back on manual investigation. Insurers want evidence-based, no-noise insights that directly inform decision-making. By reducing false positives and standardizing how online evidence is used in claims workflows, insurers can finally strike the balance between automation and accuracy, protecting their reserves while preventing burnout across adjuster, SIU, and litigation teams.
Emily McGinn, general manager, MGA and wholesale at Vertafore
As we look ahead to 2026, risks are evolving faster than ever. MGAs must move just as quickly, combining deeper expertise with flexible, data-driven technology to anticipate and adapt. Long-term success will depend on MGAs having scalable systems that ensures clean data, automated workflows, and provides real-time visibility across programs. Agent portals and AI-powered tools will help MGAs move at the speed of risk, while driving smarter underwriting, stronger carrier alignment, and a better agent experience.
