Risks may be getting ever more complex and interconnected but the insurance market is still competitive and it is good news for buyers.

Broker Aon has issued its Q1 2026 Global Insurance Market Insights report, which found that the global commercial insurance market entered 2026 with rare tailwinds for buyers, offering broad capacity, flexible underwriting and competitive pricing across many major lines.

Aon added the current market is defined by strong insurer profitability and supportive reinsurance renewals as key drivers behind current market competitiveness, enabling many organisations to secure increased limits, broader coverage and improve program structures. At the same time, outcomes are becoming more differentiated than ever, with pricing, capacity and terms increasingly shaped by risk quality, geography, industry exposure and resilience planning.

“Rising geopolitical volatility is exposing how quickly assumptions around coverage, capacity and balance‑sheet protection can break down,” explained Joe Peiser, CEO of Risk Capital for Aon. “Conflicts, supply‑chain disruption and sanctions exposure are testing policy language, capacity and claims assumptions simultaneously. Organizations that stress‑test their programs now will have far more options than those forced to react later.”

The risk environment remains defined by the escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and it is weighing on underwriting appetite, capacity deployment, and pricing, and driving claims activity across multiple lines, including marine, aviation, property, cyber, political violence and trade credit. Disruption to key trade routes such as the Strait of Hormuz, has intensified supply-chain risk, driven energy pricing volatility and triggered both active claims and precautionary notifications.

Marine risks have been particularly sensitive to these developments, with insurers reassessing how war exposures are underwritten and priced.

“Heightened geopolitical tensions involving the U.S. and Iran have increased risk across key shipping routes and prompted adjustments by marine war insurers,” said Phil Smaje, Aon’s global industry specialty leader, transportation & logistics. “In some cases, this has raised questions for clients around continuity of cover and pricing. Despite this, broader marine market conditions remain soft, with ample capacity and continued support from the London Market.

More broadly, it seems insurers are reassessing pricing, tightening policy language and recalibrating capacity at speed, often ahead of observable operational and financial impacts. Aon notes that this has reinforced the importance of proactive risk mapping, coverage stress-testing, contract review and early engagement with insurers before conditions shift further.

Buyers have been told that now is the time to reassess risk strategies to ensure that they make the most of the opportunities at a time when a sudden major event could swiftly change the market and make life far more uncomfortable for businesses.

Jon Guy, Editor,

Emerging Risks