Buyers have more leverage – but the market is demanding more, too
“The market has matured rapidly over the past five years,” said Eyad Kabbani (pictured), national cyber placement leader at Marsh McLennan Agency. After a volatile stretch, he described a sector that’s steadied – disciplined but open, competitive but not reckless.
Coming off “a few hard years in 2021 and 2023,” the cyber insurance market has since loosened. Increased competition has pushed prices down and brought more options to the table. “We’re still not at pre-hard market premiums, but that’s not necessarily the goal either,” said Kabbani. “We’re striving towards a sustainable and stable market for everyone involved.”
This new equilibrium doesn’t mean underwriting has gone soft. “Underwriting remains disciplined, and carriers are still focused on security controls and risk management,” he said.
Clients push for strategy, not just limits
For buyers, a softening market has brought more than price relief. Demand is shifting away from simple coverage amounts and toward more strategic, customized programs. “One of the biggest trends is that we’re seeing clients move beyond just buying insurance limits,” said Kabbani.
Instead, buyers are asking for tailored protection against complex exposures, including supply chain risks, various forms of E&O, and emerging technologies like AI. “The most sophisticated clients have made requests that the markets are not always able to meet,” he said. “So we’re really pushing the markets.”
That pressure is reshaping underwriting. Carriers are no longer focused solely on prevention – they want to see recovery strategies. “They want to see not just preventative controls, but also how organizations plan to respond and how they recover from events,” said Kabbani.
Some insurers are going further, developing incentive programs that reward clients for sharing telemetry data. “A new way of underwriting,” Kabbani called it, and one that’s “really pushing the market forward.”
The result is a move away from one-size-fits-all policies toward relationship-driven programs. “Overall the trend is more toward tailored, partnership-driven approaches,” he said.
Market innovation needs to go beyond buzz
While cyber insurers have been fast to respond to breaking threats, Kabbani was cautious about the industry’s tendency to chase hype. “The market does a good job of keeping up with emerging risks and the headlines that dominate news cycles,” he said. But quick pivots don’t always produce useful products.
“Ultimately, I think what matters most is whether we’re delivering solutions that solve real problems for clients, not just chasing the buzz of the day,” he said. Some products fade fast, while others prove their utility and “become a part of the market for the long term.”
That divide between durable solutions and headline chasers will define the next phase of the industry. Kabbani warned that artificial intelligence, global instability and cyber threats are evolving faster than the typical insurance cycle. “Being able to innovate and deliver sustainable solutions for clients will separate the winners and losers in the industry,” he said.
Brokers and carriers face rising pressure to differentiate
That evolution demands more from brokers, who are expected to deliver not just policies but real insights. “It continues to be about using data and analytics to help our clients make smarter and more proactive decisions about risk transfer,” Kabbani said. That applies across the board, from mid-sized firms to the largest global corporations.
For carriers, the challenge is clear: break through the noise. “Differentiation is the hardest part of our industry,” said Kabbani. The firms that succeed will do so by offering real, measurable value – through coverage, services, or product innovation.
“There’s room to innovate, whether that’s new products addressing evolving exposures like AI and supply chain, or service enhancements that go beyond the policy,” he said. That includes the excess space, where carriers must offer more than just capacity. “Excess carriers will need to focus on delivering more value to their clients in a crowded market at the moment,” he said.
Cyber insurance as a resilience strategy
Kabbani pointed to the growing need for companies to rethink insurance as more than a financial hedge. “The opportunity is to view insurance as a broader resilience strategy, not just a backstop for cyber risk,” he said.
Firms integrating insurance into their larger cybersecurity efforts – and involving the full security team in the process – are seeing stronger outcomes. “Having the whole cybersecurity team bought into the insurance process makes a big difference,” said Kabbani.
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