Aon plc, a global professional services firm, has published its Q1 2026 Global Insurance Market Insights report, setting out its view on current conditions in the commercial insurance market.
Aon reports that the year has begun with conditions that are generally supportive for buyers, including strong capacity, adaptable underwriting and competitive pricing across many key lines.
At the same time, Aon emphasises that increasing geopolitical, legal and claims-related risks could quickly reduce flexibility for organisations that postpone decisions.
In this latest quarterly analysis, Aon links the current level of competition in the market to robust insurer profitability and favourable reinsurance renewals. These dynamics, Aon explains, are allowing many organisations to obtain higher limits, broader protection and more effective programme design.
However, Aon also notes that results are becoming more varied, with pricing, capacity and terms increasingly determined by factors such as the quality of risk, geographic exposure, sector-specific issues and resilience planning.
“Rising geopolitical volatility is exposing how quickly assumptions around coverage, capacity and balance-sheet protection can break down,” commented Joe Peiser, CEO of Risk Capital at Aon.
“Conflicts, supply-chain disruption and sanctions exposure are testing policy language, capacity and claims assumptions simultaneously. Organisations that stress-test their programs now will have far more options than those forced to react later.”
Aon reports that growing tensions in the Middle East are already influencing underwriting appetite, the deployment of capacity and pricing, while also contributing to claims activity across a range of lines, including marine, aviation, property, cyber, political violence and trade credit. Aon highlights that disruption to key shipping routes such as the Strait of Hormuz has increased supply chain risk, added to volatility in energy prices and led to both active claims and precautionary notifications.
According to Aon, marine insurance has been particularly affected, as insurers reconsider how war-related risks are assessed and priced.
“Heightened geopolitical tensions involving the US and Iran have increased risk across key shipping routes and prompted adjustments by marine war insurers,” added Phil Smaje, Global Industry Specialty Leader for Transportation & Logistics at Aon.
“In some cases, this has raised questions for clients around continuity of cover and pricing. Despite this, broader marine market conditions remain soft, with ample capacity and continued support from the London Market.”
More generally, Aon observes that insurers are revisiting pricing, refining policy wording and adjusting capacity at pace, often ahead of clear operational or financial consequences. Aon indicates that this underlines the importance of early engagement with insurers, along with detailed risk mapping, coverage stress-testing and contract review before conditions evolve further.
Beyond geopolitical developments, Aon also identifies ongoing pressure from legal and regulatory trends, particularly in the United States, where litigation patterns and claims inflation remain elevated.
Aon notes that although there are early signs of tort reform in some areas, large jury awards, increasing defence costs and social inflation continue to affect casualty and liability programmes worldwide. Aon adds that claims performance is becoming an increasingly important factor, with organisations paying closer attention to insurer expertise, responsiveness and service quality in addition to pricing and coverage.
Overall, Aon concludes that the opening months of 2026 present a limited opportunity for organisations willing to take a more strategic approach. Aon suggests that current conditions can be used to enhance resilience, refine risk transfer arrangements and prepare for continued geopolitical uncertainty.
