Travelers has unveiled its renewed catastrophe excess-of-loss (XoL) reinsurance program for 2026, featuring a significant reduction in retention and the addition of a new lower layer.
The 2026 program attaches at a $3 billion retention level, which marks a decrease from the $4 billion threshold in 2025.
This change lowers Travelers’ net exposure to mid-sized catastrophe events, with reinsurance kicking in earlier.
Meanwhile, above the retention, the tower extends to $8 billion, offering up to $4.675 billion in total reinsurance recovery for qualifying losses, up from the $3.675 billion available in 2025.
As with 2025, the qualifying occurrence is subject to a $100 million deductible in 2026.
The renewal aligns with broader trends spotted at the January 1 renewals, where US property catastrophe reinsurance saw greater-than-expected price declines driven by abundant capacity and a relatively benign 2025 Atlantic hurricane season.
Reinsurance brokers have noted a “dynamic” market with sufficient supply, which, it seems, has enabled buyers like Travelers to negotiate improved structures and potentially lower risk-adjusted rates.
In line with this, Travelers recently reported a stronger combined ratio for both the fourth quarter and full year 2025, driven by higher net income for both periods, while posting record full-year operating cash flows of $10.6 billion.
As of January 1, 2026, in addition to its corporate catastrophe excess-of-loss reinsurance treaty, Travelers has several other catastrophe reinsurance agreements in effect, including the reinsurance arrangement related to the Catastrophe Bonds (Long Point Re IV), the Personal Insurance Catastrophe Excess-of-Loss Treaty, the Northeast Property Catastrophe Excess-of-Loss Treaty, and the Business Insurance Earthquake Catastrophe Excess-of-Loss Treaty, as well as various other international reinsurance treaties.
Readers can find more information on the Long Point Re IV Ltd. (Series 2022-1) catastrophe bond, as well as others, in the Deal Directory of our sister publication, Artemis.
