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August 2026

Mid-Year Insurance Insights: Navigating a Transitioning Market

Halfway through 2026, the personal lines insurance market is beginning to moderate, but the shift is uneven and the full picture is nuanced and regionally driven.

This blog answers the following questions:

  • Is the homeowners’ insurance market softening?
  • What is happening with auto insurance rates?
  • Why does location still matter so much?
  • What about my personal liability coverage?
  • Where should I start when reviewing my insurance?

More frequent and severe weather events are becoming the norm, rather than the exception, across much of the U.S. This trend is leading to increased losses when disasters such as wildfires or hurricanes impact neighborhoods and communities.

In response to these climate challenges, traditional insurance carriers raised premiums, tightened terms, reduced coverage capacities, issued non-renewals, or even exited certain peril-prone geographic areas altogether.

As a result, homeowners are often forced to seek insurance in the non-admitted market, causing that market to expand and fill the gaps left by traditional carriers. At the beginning of 2026, this was the prevailing situation. However, as the year progresses, the homeowners’ and auto insurance markets are softening.

Homeowners’ Rates Show Signs of Moderation

After several years of sharp, sustained rate increases, the U.S. homeowners’ insurance market is showing genuine signs of moderation.

National-approved rate increases for homeowners peaked at 15.8% in 2024, then dropped to 9.3% in 2025, and have now fallen to 4.3%. Property insurance pricing has fallen for five consecutive quarters, driven by improved carrier results, increased capacity, and more favorable reinsurance conditions.

In the high-net-worth marketplace, the downward trend in approved homeowners’ rate changes tells a similar story, with rates falling each year, from 16.3% in 2024 to 8.8% in 2025 and now 6.3%.

Source: Guy Carpenter

“Location, Location, Location”

As real estate agents are known to say, “location, location, location.” It’s the one thing you cannot easily change about your home, and for carriers, it’s a critical factor in deciding what rates you are offered.

The softening market trend is not uniform across the country. In regions like California, which is still reeling from the devastating 2025 wildfires in Palisades and Altadena, which caused an estimated $75 billion in insured losses, homeowners’ rates are nearly double the national average at 7.5%, per Guy Carpenter.

Still, overall approved rate changes for homeowners in the state are trending downward. 

Source: Guy Carpenter
Source: Guy Carpenter

As Golden State homeowners navigate the market, many continue to need specialized placement through the Excess and Surplus (E&S) market and may benefit from working with a broker who understands how to navigate the current complex marketplace.

Increasingly, more homeowners are turning to the California FAIR Plan, the state's insurer of last resort. The plan now covers more than 663,000 properties, up from roughly 124,000 in 2019. In May 2026, the FAIR Plan was approved for a 29.1% rate increase, its largest ever. The California FAIR Plan is where homeowners go as a “last resort” for homeowners’ insurance.

On the other coast, New York is also experiencing regional and income-bracket differences. Main Street homeowners' approved rate changes in New York stand at 9.5% in 2026, down slightly from 10.3% in 2025, according to Guy Carpenter. However, the high-net-worth segment in New York is experiencing rising approved rates for both homeowners’ and auto.

Source: Guy Carpenter
Source: Guy Carpenter

Another Outlier to the Softening Trend: Personal Umbrella Coverage

If homeowners’ and auto insurance represent the more encouraging half of this mid-year update, personal umbrella coverage is the exception and remains in a hard market.

National-approved rates for personal umbrella coverage hit 36.6% in 2025 and remain elevated at 21.8% in 2026 for Main Street consumers, per Guy Carpenter.

Source: Guy Carpenter

The underlying driver is litigation costs. Nuclear verdicts—jury awards in excess of $10 million—have surged in both frequency and size. For clients with significant assets to protect, rates in this category remain high, but have dropped from 22.3% at the start of the year to 17.1% today, according to Guy Carpenter. In New York, that downward trend has yet to be felt, likely due to the legal landscape there.

Read the Fine Print

But the data doesn’t tell the full story; consumers need to read the fine print of their policies to truly understand what is happening mid-year.

While premiums may be starting to moderate in many parts of the country, carriers are still shifting risk back to policyholders through their coverage terms.

Our team is seeing insurers tighten coverage for catastrophic perils such as wind and hail from convective storms, as well as raise deductibles, introduce sublimits, and broaden exclusions for roof damage.

Request Your Broker-Guided Review

Reviewing your policy terms carefully is crucial to understanding whether your lower premium is truly a “good deal,” or whether there are cuts that may leave you exposed if a claim occurs. If you’d like help understanding the ins and outs of your policy, schedule a review with us. Our brokers explain changes to coverage terms, deductibles, and exclusions alongside the rate changes you may be seeing.

In a transitioning market, the real story is often in the details and, in many cases, your geography. If you are in California, New York, or another active catastrophe zone, the national softening trend may not reflect your situation. 

Our team is here to help you, no matter where you are located. We help ensure your coverage reflects both what is available and what you actually need to safeguard your home, assets, loved ones, and lifestyle.

Request an insurance review with an experienced Personal Risk Advisor to ensure you're adequately insured for whatever life may bring.

Request Review

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