What we have seen in June renewals
June renewals remained competitive for clean Australian mid-market risks. Capacity is available, and insurers continue to compete where the account is well described, and claims are controlled. There remains strong appetite for well-managed risks, particularly where businesses can demonstrate stable claims performance, clear underwriting information, and predominantly Australian exposures. The local Australian market remains highly competitive and, in many cases, continues to provide more attractive pricing than Lloyd’s and other overseas markets. Preferred risks should continue to achieve favourable pricing and coverage outcomes.
Premium pricing trends
Pricing remains soft for clean risks, with a planning range of -5% to -10%. Risks involving US exports, high-hazard products, labour hire, worker-to-worker exposure, PFAS or adverse claims should expect flat to +10%.
Insurer behaviour
There is visible competition and some insurers are chasing premium. More technical insurers remain cautious on bodily injury severity, imported products and long-tail exposure. The market is no longer soft across all risks. Insurers are drawing a clearer distinction between clean domestic businesses and those with US exposure, poor claims performance, imported product exposures, broad contractual indemnities, environmental risks, labour hire arrangements, or significant worker-to-worker injury exposure. This is the key shift since the January update: market conditions remain favourable, but insurer scrutiny is now more focused on risk complexity rather than pricing alone.
Claims trends
Claims pressure is concentrated around bodily injury, worker-to-worker claims, social inflation, class actions, product liability, psychological injury and defence costs. Supply chain changes from geopolitical disruption may also increase product substitution and contract disputes.
Worker-to-worker claims remain a key area of insurer focus, particularly across construction, logistics, manufacturing, maintenance, labour hire and industries involving manual workforces or shared worksites. Underwriters are reviewing contractor controls, labour hire arrangements, site supervision, incident reporting, safe systems of work and injury prevention processes in greater detail.
Products liability is also attracting closer attention. Businesses that import, relabel, distribute or supply component parts are being reviewed more carefully, particularly where products are sourced directly from overseas manufacturers. In some circumstances, an Australian business may be treated as the manufacturer, creating exposure to injury, property damage or broader loss arising from product defects. This is particularly relevant for businesses relying on offshore supply chains, online marketplaces, or imported materials. Insurers are increasingly seeking evidence of supplier due diligence, quality assurance procedures, batch traceability, Australian standards compliance and contractual protections.
US exposure remains a significant underwriting factor. While Australian liability pricing remains competitive, businesses with US exports, US contracts, US subsidiaries or US jurisdictional exposure continue to face more difficult conditions. This reflects the higher litigation environment, larger settlement values and greater volatility in US liability claims.
PFAS, silica and pollution remain key long-tail exposures for insurers, particularly where businesses manufacture, import, remediate, dispose of or handle chemicals, operate in contaminated environments, or have historical exposure to dust-generating activities.
Separately, abuse and molestation cover remains one of the clearest examples of continued insurer discipline in the liability market. This is treated less as a pricing issue and more as a governance and safeguarding exposure. Insurers generally require clear evidence of screening, training, supervision, incident response, and complaints handling procedures before considering cover.
Liability is a long-tail class, and current pricing conditions should not be viewed in isolation. Claims inflation, legal cost escalation, worker-to-worker injury trends, psychological injury claims, imported product exposures, US litigation, PFAS, silica and other emerging contaminants all have the potential to influence insurer profitability over time.
Legal and regulatory developments
Product liability principles, cladding decisions and Australian Consumer Law developments are relevant where contractors, suppliers or manufacturers sit in the construction and property chain. The Commonwealth’s recent legal action against 3M in relation to PFAS contamination linked to firefighting foam across Defence sites has again highlighted the potential scale of long-tail environmental liabilities. For insurers, this reinforces why PFAS remains one of the most sensitive casualty exposures in the market.
AI and technology impact
AI and automation affect liability through robotics, automated plant, product design, quality control and safety analytics. Poor documentation of AI-assisted design or product decisions may become a liability issue.
What policyholders should do now
Use the soft market to test limits, remove hard-market restrictions, review contractual indemnities, confirm product export exposures, and ensure subcontractor insurance controls are robust. Businesses are regularly being asked to accept broad indemnities, hold harmless provisions, waiver of subrogation clauses, principals’ indemnity requirements, additional insured status and primary and non-contributory wording. These clauses can materially increase the liability assumed by the business and may not always be fully supported by the insurance programme. Policyholders should review contractual insurance requirements before contracts are signed. Where obligations fall outside the scope of cover, businesses may be accepting uninsured or only partially insured liabilities.
Continue reading our full range of market updates:
- Insurance Market Overview: July 2026
- Claims
- Workplace Risk
- Corporate and Multinational Risk
- Construction, Property and Development
- Financial Lines
