Autos, roads and design professional liability insurance remain pain points in an otherwise stable North American construction insurance market, reports Aon, the big brokerage. So are huge verdicts.
The latest information was part of Aon's mid-2025 report on world construction insurance markets. In the U.S., capacity and rates are stable for architects and engineers policies.
But claims costs keep rising, with more single plaintiff settlement/verdicts of greater than $10 million or $100 million dollars. These have been dubbed nuclear and thermonuclear verdicts or settlements.
As for contractors, markets also are stable but involve what Aon calls a "hyper-vigilance around limit aggregation," the total amount an insurer will pay for all covered claims during a policy period.
Insurers are concerned and have a "growing unease" about social inflation -- the tendency of juries to award ever-bigger damage awards -- combined with cost inflation, reports Aon. Insurers have faced claims payments on several large auto verdicts or settlements against designers and constructors "which allege a blend of inadequate workmanship and design negligence related to road construction."
Insurers working in North America "continued to seek higher retentions across the board in response to rising costs," says Aon.
Retentions are similar to deductibles, but insurers collect and keep retains funds for the term of a policy in case there is a claim.
In the U.S., auto liability and auto physical damage renewal rates "will continue to increase in 2025 as insurers struggle for profitability" with these policies, Aon states.
The big London, U.K.-based broker, whose North American headquarters is in Chicago, says automobile liability single-plaintiff verdicts will continue to increase. Requirements for more underwriting data, says Aon, and technology-supported physical controls have become standard. Companies with large fleets are looking at more alternative types of insurance solutions, too.
Insurers are looking to trim limits. "As is the case with annual practice policies," writes Aon, "insurers that 12 months ago would have provided $20 million to $25 million on a single project or rolling program are now looking to trim that down to $10 million to $15 million."
The trimming, says Aon, is "most pertinent," in difficult project classes such as tunnels and bridges, policies with terms of seven years and projects in New York.