Berkshire, Chubb, and Travelers Are Removing AI Coverage
In Force Weekly: More than 80% of AI exclusion filings have been approved. The standalone AI liability market is being born right now
This Week’s Strategic Signals for P&C Carrier and Insurtech Executives
Overall: Berkshire, Chubb, and Travelers are winning state approval to exclude AI liability from standard commercial policies, forcing a standalone specialty market into existence.
Personal Lines: Florida’s weighted average combined ratio swung 22 points to 81.8% in 2025, the most dramatic single year turnaround in the state’s modern insurance history.
Commercial: Zurich‘s $10.9 billion Beazley acquisition cleared shareholder approval, creating a $15 billion specialty underwriter that reshapes the competitive landscape.
Cyber: 80% of insurance CROs now rank cyber among their top five enterprise risks, up 14 points year over year, with Anthropic‘s Claude Mythos named as a direct inflection point.
Some sections also include ‘other signals on our radar.’ Write back and let us know if you’d like to see more details on any of those.
In Force is a weekly intelligence brief for P&C Insurance executives, delivering high-impact developments shaping the P&C space: what happened, why it matters, and what to do about it. It is designed for carrier and insurtech strategy, product management, marketing, sales, broker/agent relations, and innovation teams. Each issue distills complex shifts into decision-grade insight.
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1. Overall
Major Insurers Win State Approvals to Exclude AI Liability from Standard Commercial Policies
What Happened
Reported on April 22 and 23, 2026 by The Information, Moomoo/Cailian Press, and confirmed via thousands of regulatory filings analyzed by research firm Wolfe Research: Berkshire Hathaway, Chubb, and Travelers have been quietly filing, and winning approval for, “AI exclusion clauses” in their standard commercial liability policies. State insurance regulators have approved more than 80% of such applications so far, with the highest volumes of approvals in Florida, Connecticut, and Maryland. Berkshire and Travelers began submitting applications last fall, with some provisions already in effect as of early 2026.
The exclusions target a range of AI related scenarios that would otherwise fall under general liability coverage: employees alleging employer AI driven discrimination, intellectual property violations (for example, AI generated marketing content using copyrighted material), and property damage caused by autonomous or robotic systems. Brokerages Aon, Gallagher, and Lockton have all publicly flagged the implications for corporate clients, noting that companies deploying AI agents could find previously assumed coverage simply gone. This comes against a backdrop of AI related litigation surging 140% year over year in 2025, per Cailian Press data, and a Gallagher Re/MIT report (released earlier in April 2026) documenting a 978% increase in generative AI related lawsuits between 2020 and 2025.
Separately, on the same day (April 22), Chubb CEO Evan Greenberg stated during the Q1 2026 earnings call that Anthropic‘s new model, Claude Mythos, which Anthropic acknowledges can autonomously identify and exploit software vulnerabilities, marks a new era of cyber adjacent risk. Greenberg’s phrase: “The arms race is on.” Chubb‘s Q1 results themselves were exceptional: net income of $2.32 billion (+74% YoY), core operating income of $2.69 billion ($6.82/share), and P&C combined ratio of 84%.
Why It Matters
This is the most consequential commercial policy development of 2026 to date for strategy, product management, and broker/agent teams. The playbook exactly mirrors the early days of cyber insurance in the 1990s: major carriers carve out a risk from general policies, forcing it to become a standalone specialty market. Commercial accounts that assumed AI risks were implicitly covered under existing GL policies are now discovering significant gaps, and the burden falls on brokers and agents to identify and remediate those gaps proactively. For carriers, this is both an underwriting discipline play and a market creation play: exclusions from standard lines are the precondition for building dedicated AI liability products. Product management and innovation leaders should be treating the Wolfe Research filing data as a trigger to begin scoping standalone AI liability products, the same way cyber emerged from tech E&O. The Greenberg/Mythos dynamic adds urgency: if a frontier AI model is now capable of discovering zero day exploits at scale, the correlated loss potential across cyber book aggregations is material. This extends TIC’s April 8 deep dive on AI liability coverage gaps, which mapped the three standalone products currently in market (Armilla AI, Testudo Global, and Munich Re), and our April 13 coverage of six carriers filing exclusion endorsements. The 80% regulatory approval rate now confirms this is no longer carrier intent; it is coverage being removed from commercial books in real time.
Implications
Strategy and Capital: The parallel to 1990s cyber emergence is exact. Carriers that build standalone AI liability underwriting capability now, during the price discovery window, will establish structural positions in what Deloitte projects as a $4.7 billion annual premium market by 2032. Carriers that wait will enter a market where pricing has already been established by first movers.
Product Management: Begin scoping standalone AI liability product architecture immediately. The Wolfe Research filing data provides the roadmap: map which exclusions have been approved in which states, and design affirmative coverage that fills those specific gaps.
Underwriting: Every commercial account deploying AI agents, autonomous systems, or AI generated content now requires explicit AI liability gap analysis at renewal. The 80% regulatory approval rate means this is not a future risk; it is a current coverage gap.
Broker/Agent Relations: This is a client advisory moment. Brokers who proactively identify AI liability gaps and connect commercial accounts with the handful of standalone products (Armilla, Testudo, Munich Re, all surplus lines) will differentiate. The brokers who built early relationships with cyber MGAs in 2012 and 2013 captured structural positions in a market that grew to $15 billion. The same window is opening now.
Legal and Compliance: Review every standard commercial policy form for implicit AI coverage assumptions. The exclusions being filed target CGL, E&O, and D&O simultaneously, meaning any commercial account with AI exposure may have gaps across multiple lines.
Other Overall Signals on our Radar:
Marsh Reports Seventh Consecutive Quarter of Global Commercial Rate Declines in Q1 2026
On April 22, 2026, Marsh released its Global Insurance Market Index for Q1 2026. Global composite commercial rates fell 5%, accelerating from a 4% decline in Q4 2025, marking the seventh consecutive quarter of rate decreases. Property rates declined 9% globally, with U.S. property down 10%. U.S. casualty rates increased 9% for the second consecutive quarter, with excess casualty up 18% per Marsh’s Q1 earnings call commentary. Cyber rates declined 5% globally. Financial and professional lines fell 5%. John Donnelly, President of Global Placement at Marsh Risk, noted that the current competitive environment is expected to persist as insurer profitability remains strong, citing favorable reinsurance terms and significant property capacity. This advances the pricing bifurcation TIC has tracked since our March 16 coverage of WTW’s data and through our April 6, April 13, and April 20 issues.
We regularly publish insights that go beyond reporting to help P&C insurance leaders make informed decisions as expectations, risks, and market dynamics continue to evolve.
2. Personal Lines (Home, Auto, etc.)
Florida Insurance Market Posts Stunning 22 Point Combined Ratio Improvement in 2025
What Happened
On April 23, 2026, Gallagher Re released its annual Florida Market Watch Report, drawing on NAIC data and S&P Global Market Intelligence. The findings represent the most dramatic single year turnaround in Florida’s insurance market in recent memory:
The overall weighted average combined ratio improved from 104.2% in 2024 to 81.8% in 2025, a 22 point swing. By comparison, the national P&C average improved only approximately 2 points in the same period. 46 of 61 tracked insurers reported underwriting gains in 2025, up from 39 in 2024. The Florida market generated a net underwriting gain of $3 billion and after tax net income of $3.6 billion. Policyholder surplus climbed 25.7% to $16.4 billion, with Florida specialists’ surplus surging 34.9% to $8 billion. Direct premiums written rose 1.3% to $33.3 billion; Florida specialists (excluding national carriers) grew 13.5% to $22.2 billion, with growth concentrated in carriers like PURE and Slide Insurance. Citizens Property Insurance saw a nearly 44% decrease in premiums, evidence that policy depopulation efforts are working. Individual carrier highlights: State Farm Florida improved its combined ratio 22 points (90 to 69); Security First Insurance improved 21 points (85 to 63); Slide Insurance improved 11 points (77 to 66).
Why It Matters
Florida has been the defining stress test for US personal property insurance for the past five years. A 22 point combined ratio improvement, driven by rate adequacy, litigation reform (HB 837 in 2023), reduced assignment of benefits abuse, and a benign hurricane season in 2025, signals that the structural reforms implemented over 2022 to 2024 are actually working. This is the data point that transforms the Florida reform narrative from hope to evidence.
Implications
Strategy and Market Entry: For personal lines executives, this is market intelligence that changes re entry calculus. The Florida specialist segment is now profitable and growing, while national carriers are pulling back. The 44% decline in Citizens premiums confirms the depopulation mechanism is functioning. This follows the Kingstone California E&S entry and Olympus cat bond pricing TIC covered on April 20, where capital is flowing into previously distressed state markets on new terms.
Sales and Distribution: The resurgence of Florida specialists like Slide, PURE, and Security First creates both competitive threats and partnership opportunities. Slide‘s growth is concentrated in Citizens takeout business; distribution teams should be evaluating appointment opportunities with carriers riding the depopulation wave.
Reinsurance: The June 1 Florida renewals, which TIC covered in our April 6 issue, saw average risk adjusted price decreases of 10.7% in 2025. If the 2025 profitability holds, expect further buyer friendly conditions at June 1, 2026.
Other Personal Lines Signals on our Radar:
California Senate Kills SB 1076 Fire Safe Homes Coverage Mandate While Three Companion Bills Advance
On April 22, 2026, the California Senate Insurance Committee voted down SB 1076, the Insurance Coverage for Fire Safe Homes Act, authored by state Senator Sasha Renée Pérez (D, Pasadena). The bill fell one vote short. Senators Padilla, Becker, and Menjivar voted in support; Senators Richardson and Rubio abstained, which effectively counted against the bill. SB 1076 would have required admitted insurers to offer and renew coverage for any California home meeting state wildfire mitigation standards as of January 1, 2028, and threatened noncompliant carriers with a five year ban from home and auto markets. The same committee advanced three companion bills: SB 877 (requiring insurer disclosure of all loss estimates and revisions), SB 878 (strengthening claims payment timelines), and SB 1301 (Senator Ben Allen, protecting policyholders from unexplained nonrenewals). Also killed the same day: SB 982 (Senator Scott Wiener), which would have authorized California’s attorney general to sue fossil fuel companies to recover insurance losses from climate induced disasters. This is the first time fire safe home coverage legislation received a full hearing since it was first introduced in 2019.
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3. Commercial
Beazley Shareholders Approve Zurich’s $10.9 Billion Takeover, Closing Landmark Specialty Consolidation
What Happened
On April 22, 2026, Beazley plc shareholders voted to approve the all cash acquisition by Zurich Insurance Group, valued at £8.1 billion (approximately $10.9 billion), the largest specialty insurance M&A transaction of 2026. The deal, announced March 2, 2026, priced at 1,335 pence per Beazley share (1,310 pence cash plus a 25 pence permitted dividend payable May 1, 2026). Zurich raised approximately CHF 3.9 billion ($5.0 billion) via an accelerated bookbuild in March to help fund the transaction, alongside existing cash and new debt facilities. Shareholders approved the deal with 99.9% of votes in favor.
The transaction still requires court sanction, expected in H2 2026, along with regulatory and antitrust approvals. The combined entity will create a global specialty insurance leader with approximately $15 billion in gross written premium, headquartered in the UK and leveraging Beazley‘s Lloyd’s market presence. Beazley‘s specialty capabilities in cyber, marine, aviation, space, life sciences, fine art, and political violence complement Zurich‘s global commercial scale.
Why It Matters
This is the most consequential commercial specialty M&A transaction since the AIG restructuring era. This follows our April 20 coverage of Beazley‘s $1 billion Hormuz marine war consortium, which demonstrated the kind of specialty market leadership that made Beazley an acquisition target in the first place.
Implications
Strategy and Competitive Positioning: For specialty commercial lines executives, the Zurich/Beazley combination is a competitive landscape shift of the first order. Beazley is the number one or number two writer in several specialty classes (particularly cyber and professional lines), and the backing of Zurich‘s balance sheet will enable significantly expanded capacity and geographic reach. For Zurich competitors (AIG, AXA XL, Markel, W.R. Berkley), this forces a strategic response on specialty build versus buy.
Broker and Distribution: For commercial brokers, the consolidation reduces the pool of major specialty capacity providers and may ultimately result in pricing and terms pressure in lines where Beazley has historically competed aggressively on price to win share.
Product Management and Innovation: The deal signals where the smart capital sees long term value: specialty lines diversification, not property volume. Product teams should be evaluating whether their specialty portfolios are positioned to compete against the combined Zurich/Beazley entity or whether partnership and capacity strategies need rethinking.
Other Commercial Signals on our Radar:
Confie Acquires Kemper’s 72 Location Newins P&C Retail Agency Network
On April 21, 2026, Confie, the self described largest personal lines insurance distribution company in the United States, completed the acquisition of Kemper Corporation‘s (NYSE: KMPR) retail P&C agency portfolio, operating under the Newins Insurance Agency Holdings brand. The deal includes 72 retail P&C storefront locations across Illinois, Texas, Nevada, Arizona, and Indiana, operating under the brands Illinois Vehicle, A Abana, and Access Auto Insurance. For Kemper, the divestiture represents a continued strategic pivot to independent agent distribution for specialty auto insurance. Confie is controlled by private equity and has made over 100 acquisitions in the past decade, with particular strength in urban, non standard, and Spanish speaking auto insurance markets. All employees associated with the divested business have transitioned to Confie.
4. Cyber
EY/IIF Global Insurance CRO Survey: 80% of CROs Now Rank Cyber as Top Five Risk, with Claude Mythos Named as Inflection Point
What Happened
On April 21 through 22, 2026, EY and the Institute of International Finance published their third annual Global Insurance CRO Survey, drawing from 106 CROs and senior risk executives across EMEIA, the Americas, and Asia Pacific. The findings represent the highest level of cyber concern since the survey began:
80% of insurance CROs now rank cyber among their top five enterprise risks, up 14 percentage points year over year, the largest single year increase in the survey’s history. 30% of CROs identify cyber as their single top threat. Cybersecurity ranked well above strategic risk (44%), regulatory/compliance risk (41%), third party risk (40%), and geopolitical/market risk (38%) when asked which risks will require the most CRO attention. 79% of CROs cited cybersecurity threats and digital hostilities as the most significant geopolitical impact on their organizations, specifically in the context of the Iran/Hormuz conflict and AI enabled offensive capabilities. The survey explicitly calls out Anthropic‘s Claude Mythos (launched April 7, 2026 via Project Glasswing) as a direct inflection point: a model capable of autonomously identifying and exploiting vulnerabilities across operating systems, browsers, and critical infrastructure. Chubb CEO Greenberg directly referenced Mythos as triggering an “arms race” on both offense and defense.
Separately, Fitch Ratings published a report on April 15, 2026 (U.S. Cyber Insurance Growth Raises Underwriting Risk) finding that US cyber direct written premiums grew nearly 11% in 2025, reversing two consecutive years of contraction. The growth was driven by a 34% surge in policies in force while aggregate pricing softened, raising underwriting margin concerns. Incurred direct losses deteriorated by 5 percentage points, which Fitch flags as a leading indicator of narrowing profitability as competition intensifies.
Why It Matters
The combination of the EY/IIF survey result, the Fitch premium/loss data, and the Mythos development creates a high urgency signal for cyber insurance executives across underwriting, product management, and strategy. The 14 percentage point jump in CRO cyber concern is the largest single year move in the survey’s history, driven primarily by AI enabled offensive capabilities, not the Hormuz conflict alone. This follows our April 13 coverage of ransomware attacks directly targeting insurance carriers (Beacon Mutual, Farmers, Erie, Philadelphia Insurance) and our April 20 analysis of tightening signals beneath the headline soft cyber cycle.
Implications
Underwriting: The Fitch data reveals a structural risk: the market is growing through volume (34% more policies), not through firmer pricing, and deteriorating loss ratios are beginning to appear. Cyber underwriters should be evaluating whether current rate levels, down 5% globally per Marsh this quarter, are sustainable given the offensive capability step change that Mythos represents.
Product Management: The Mythos dynamic introduces genuine model uncertainty: if AI can autonomously discover zero day vulnerabilities at scale, the correlation of loss events across cyber books increases materially. Existing cyber forms may not contemplate AI speed attacks. Product teams should evaluate whether AI resilience endorsements and proactive security integration represent product opportunities.
Strategy: Coalition CEO Joshua Motta published a public analysis on April 22, 2026 on how Mythos should change cyber risk pricing frameworks, a signal that specialist cyber MGA leaders are already acting. Strategy teams should be monitoring how the specialist market (Coalition, Corvus, At Bay) adjusts pricing versus how the broader market responds.
Claims: The convergence of AI offensive capability escalation with the Fitch loss deterioration data creates pressure on claims reserves. If attack velocity and sophistication increase simultaneously, frequency and severity assumptions built into current reserves may prove inadequate.
Risk Management (CRO function): The EY/IIF finding that CROs are integrating cyber risk, third party risk, and operational resilience into unified frameworks reflects the reality that Mythos level threats do not respect organizational silos. CROs who have not already connected these three functions are behind.
Other Cyber Signals on our Radar:
Euler ILS Partners Targets $1 Billion in First Ever ILS Fund for Data Center Catastrophe Risk
Reported on April 22, 2026 by Bloomberg and Insurance Journal: Euler ILS Partners, an alternative investor formed from a 2024 management buyout of Credit Suisse Insurance Linked Strategies, is actively seeking $1 billion in capital for what would be the first insurance linked securities product specifically targeting data center catastrophe risk. Euler CIO Niklaus Hilti confirmed the firm is partnering with an insurance company to underwrite specialist policies, structured as a sidecar with target returns above 15%. Aon CEO of Risk Capital Joe Peiser confirmed that “quite a number of ILS investors have approached us about how they can participate in this market” and expects the first catastrophe bond specifically for data centers within 12 months. Guy Carpenter President Dean Klisura noted on a recent earnings call that clients “are now talking about issuing cat bonds and leveraging third party capital to write more data center business.” This follows our April 20 coverage of Aon‘s $3.5 billion Data Center Lifecycle Insurance Program expansion and the Willis/Zurich Digital Infrastructure Protector product launched April 9.
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The Intelligence Council publishes sharp, judgment-forward intelligence for decision-makers in complex industries. We publish weekly briefs, deep dives, competitive intelligence briefings, and analytical reports designed to sharpen competitive judgment and expose blind spots before they become strategic risks. No puff pieces. No b.s. Just the clearest signal in a noisy, complex world.