Despite the promise of artificial intelligence and other technology to improve and speed the insurance process, property claims face delays and growing complexity, according to a new report that also shows claims costs are under pressure.
Several factors are putting pressure on property claim timelines, including labor shortages, equipment delays and increasingly complex losses, according to Sedgwick’s annual Loss Adjusting Insights report. The report examines eight trends and emerging risks shaping commercial and residential property claims in 2026.
The construction industry is expected to need 349,000 additional workers this year, while the report shows lead times for some specialized equipment have more than doubled in five years.
Deploying catastrophe-response teams has also become more expensive, according to Andrew McCallum, vice president of specialty operations at Sedgwick.
“The cost of deploying has gone up exponentially, you’re talking about fuel costs, hotels,” McCallum said.
Labor in the claims industry is having an impact in another way as a “silver tsunami” of older claims professionals leaves the industry, taking experience and knowledge with them and potentially slowing claims, according to McCallum.
The Sedgwick report also addressed a growing talent shortage, with a quarter of claim adjusters expected to retire by the end of 2027.
The report cited a survey by The Institutes on talent transformation that sought input from the industry about what people think will be the greatest impact of the retirement wave on the insurance industry, and 73% answered “Loss of industry knowledge,” followed by 53% who answered, “Recruiting a new generation of talent.” Upskilling junior workers and loss of company leadership were other top concerns.
“It’s just what we call the silver tsunami and that’s really just kind of a moment, where we’re getting a little bit of a brain drain and claims are becoming more and more complex, just because of the intricacies of the policies the way they’re underwritten,” McCallum said.
A new report from Verisk on claims volumes shows that U.S. claim assignment volume fell to 1.24 million in the second quarter of 2026, down 12.2% year-over-year, sitting 13.1% below the five-year average. The figures reflect assignments recorded through Verisk’s XactAnalysis network.
Catastrophe claims accounted for 43% of second-quarter assignments, up from 34% five years ago. The higher catastrophe share reflects a sharper decline in non-catastrophe assignments, the Verisk report shows.
