An illustration of a businessman holding a torch, looking down a road toward a bright star at the end of it. The commercial insurance market has experienced a hardening over the last several years. This led many insurers to change course. (Credit: fotokitas/Adobe Stock)

The commercial insurance market began to harden around 2019, after years of gradual shifts that lead to higher premiums and reduced capacity. The overall hard market is expected to remain for the better part of 2024.

Prior to the current conditions, the commercial insurance sector long enjoyed smooth sailing, with stable premiums and expanded coverage that continued for decades, according to the 2024 Commercial Insurance Outlook from Hylant. With the exception of a period after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center — during which the market hardened for a short time — the last sustained hard market occurred in the 1980s.

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Brittney Meredith-Miller

Brittney Meredith-Miller is assistant editor of PropertyCasualty360.com. She can be reached at [email protected].

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