The commercial insurance soft market that took hold through 2024 and into 2025 is not just holding, it is deepening. According to EBM Insurance’s May 2026 market update, pricing is reducing and terms are improving further across key commercial lines, giving brokers scope to deliver genuine value to clients through more competitive premiums, broader coverage options, and greater flexibility in placement.
The conditions reflect a sustained period of recalibration after the hardening market cycle of 2021-2023. For clients in mainstream commercial sectors, the window remains open to review sums insured, negotiate improved terms at renewal, and address coverage gaps that may have been left in place during tighter conditions.
Experienced brokers will recognise the pattern, though. As EBM’s report notes, “history has shown that some insurers can quickly reassess their appetite for certain risks as conditions change.” The factors that typically precede a market turn are not absent. Australia recorded US$2.9 billion in insured catastrophe losses in 2025, with the average claim rising 39% to A$16,471. Reinsurance costs remain elevated. And as APRA’s latest System Risk Outlook signals, geopolitical instability and intensified regulatory oversight are creating systemic pressures that will eventually feed into pricing.
Cyber stands out as the line most likely to diverge from the broader soft trend. Underwriting scrutiny around ACSC Essential Eight benchmarks is tightening even as some headline pricing has eased, and Coalition’s 2026 Cyber Claims Report confirms that business email compromise and ransomware remain the dominant drivers of claims frequency, keeping insurer loss ratios under pressure.
A soft market is an opportunity to have broader conversations with clients about coverage quality, adequacy, and structure. Those are the conversations that build long-term relationships and reduce the risk of claims-time surprises. Passing rate reductions through and moving on is a missed opportunity.
At Better Broker Network, our placement support and underwriting expertise helps members make the most of current market conditions – and position their clients well for when conditions change. Get in touch to find out more.