P&C

P&C Soft Market Deepened in Q2 2026

Premium decreases accelerated across all account sizes as premiums dropped for 10 lines of business.
By Zach West Posted on August 19, 2026
  • The soft market became clearer in Q2 2026. Premium decreases across all account sizes accelerated to an average of 2.0% from 1.2% in Q1; Q2 marked the second consecutive quarter of decreases for this metric. Large account premiums slid by an average of 3.7%, followed by medium accounts at 1.9% and small at 0.5%.
  • Respondents reported premium drops for 10 lines during the quarter, one more than in the previous quarter. Across all lines of business, including the major lines, respondents reported an average decrease of 0.3%.
  • For the major lines of business (commercial auto, commercial property, general liability, umbrella, and workers compensation), survey respondents still reported an overall premium increase, but that fell from 0.4% from 0.8% in the previous quarter.
  • As in Q1 2026, commercial property recorded the largest decrease in premiums among all lines, 6.3% on average, marking a full year of decreases for the line. On the other hand, umbrella logged the highest average increase, at 5.3%, followed by commercial auto at 4.5%.

Read the full report.

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