{"id":905471,"date":"2026-03-18T15:57:38","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T21:57:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=905471"},"modified":"2026-03-18T15:57:40","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T21:57:40","slug":"insurance-claims-trends-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/insurance-claims-trends-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Nine Claims Trends to Watch Through The Rest of 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Don Jergler | Claims Journal<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Catastrophe, resilience, automation, digital transformation, personalization of the claims experience, talent strategies, operational flexibility\u2014there are a mouthful of trends to talk about in the still-young year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A new report from Crawford & Company forecasts trends that will be reshaping the insurance claims industry the rest of 2026. The Crawford report offers\u00a0nine predictions for what lies ahead<\/a>\u00a0in claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s one of the few reports out lately that doesn\u2019t have a heightened focus on the impact of artificial intelligence as its main theme. However, the increasing impact of AI on claims is the center of one of the report\u2019s predictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs AI drives more claims automation, we will see more straight-through processing of low complexity claims in 2026,\u201d writes report co-author Joel Raedeke, senior vice president, U.S. technology for Crawford.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Increasingly sophisticated AI technology makes it likely that some of these simpler claims \u201cwill pass through all decision gates to auto-approval\u201d without any human adjuster involvement. The prediction also foresees adjuster training shifting to a need for \u201cAI literacy, interpretability and judgment in direct use of AI.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to a recent report from Sedgwick, using AI to handle low-severity claims has led to 80% faster processing times for some carriers. However, few carriers use AI at more than a small scale\u2014 and the\u00a0vast majority of adjusters say need AI needs human oversight<\/a>, according to that report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some veteran adjusters have argued that taking the human element entirely out adjusting, no matter how simple a claim, is not going to be without its drawbacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe bot may think it\u2019s giving more personalized service, but the bot that you\u2019re talking to doesn\u2019t have any empathy and it sometimes doesn\u2019t understand what you\u2019re trying to tell it,\u201d said Gregg Golson, chief strategist for Up2Now LLC, a consulting firm. \u201cWhen they\u2019re handling these things, they can say \u2018Oh, you had fence blown down, that\u2019s 100 linear feet of fence. We\u2019ll send you a check for $30 per linear foot; we\u2019ll have that check in the mail to you minus the deductible.\u2019 I understand handling claims like that, but it\u2019s a misnomer to think that AI, while handling these claims, is not going to have problems.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Crawford report\u2019s first prediction is that the industry, regulators and insurance consumers will be more proactive in response to larger and more severe natural disasters, such as the L.A. wildfires in January 2025, which drove numerous changes to California insurance regulations as\u00a0carriers sought rate hikes<\/a>\u00a0and drew back from writing in the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report authors see more support across the industry, increased efforts to educate homeowners and contractors, and more funding and funding mechanisms for resilience and preparedness. That includes endorsements for things like covering a percentage of the cost to replace a roof with a resilient shingle, loans or grants to help homeowners pay for upgrades, and private financing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Golson also foresees trends to deal with natural catastrophe losses becoming more frequent, such as increased out of pocket costs passed on to insureds as well as \u201coutside the box\u201d approaches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think one of the new things coming out that\u2019s really interesting to me is there are actually people creating parametric insurance for named storm deductibles or the (actual cash value) gaps, so people are getting a second policy based on parametric\u2014whether it\u2019s 1%, whether it\u2019s the amount of wind damage, the wind mph in an area, or the size of the hit that they can prove\u2014they automatically make a payment that would make up for the ACV gap or for the named storm,\u201d Golson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report also foresees some new approaches to coverage developing. This year, AI will impact policy pricing and claims processing \u201cas the ability to store, compile and analyze large amounts of data drives increased customization throughout the policy lifecycle,\u201d the report states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Innovation and change are themes in several of the report\u2019s predictions. In 2026, medical and indemnity cost severity will continue to rise faster than frequency continues to fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cExpect to see a healthy mix of captives and traditional insurance products bubble to the surface to address the resulting medical and indemnity market needs,\u201d the report states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other predictions are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n