Imagine opening your insurance renewal and seeing yet another increase — 8%, 12%, sometimes 20% — even though nothing material changed in your business.
Now imagine discovering that these increases weren’t inevitable… but the result of a market that has quietly shifted into a carrier-dictated environment where pricing power sits entirely with insurers.
Back on July 22, 2020, we cautioned that insurance costs were entering a new era of steady increases. Six years later, that prediction has proven true — the market has only hardened, and premiums continue to climb.
And most companies don’t realize how much leverage they’ve lost or how much hidden value is sitting inside their policies.
This is why insurance benchmarking isn’t optional anymore. Is your treasure map the only way to see what you should be paying, where you’re overpaying, and how to take back control?
The Problem: Insurance Pricing Has Been Rising for 6+ Years Straight
Across nearly every line of coverage, premiums have climbed relentlessly:
- 2018–2019: Steady increases begin
- 2019: Marsh reports 7.8% average commercial increase — the largest since 2012
- 2020: Double-digit increases across property, cyber, and financial lines
- 2021–2022: Carriers tighten terms, reduce capacity, raise deductibles
- 2023–2024: Cyber sees 10–20%+ increases; D&O markets harden
- 2025–2026: ESG, AI, blockchain, and social inflation drive new liability exposures
This is now the sixth consecutive year of broad-based premium inflation.
And unlike other categories, insurance never deflates.
Once premiums go up, they rarely come back down.
⭐ Why Prices Keep Rising (and Why It’s Not Your Fault)
Carriers point to:
- rising loss costs
- larger settlements
- higher legal expenses
- increased claim frequency
- social inflation
- nuclear verdicts
- ESG-related exposures
- AI and tech-driven liability expansion
But here’s the real issue:
The market has shifted from competitive to carrier-controlled.
Underwriters are:
- reducing capacity
- tightening exclusions
- raising deductibles
- limiting coverage
- exiting entire lines
- pricing aggressively to correct years of underpricing
This affects every industry, regardless of:
- tenure
- loss history
- safety record
- risk profile
Even companies with clean loss runs are seeing increases.
⭐ The Insight: Insurance Is One of the Most Overlooked Spend Categories
Most companies treat insurance as a renewal exercise, not a strategic spend category.
But here’s the truth:
Insurance is one of the largest controllable expenses in your business and one of the least benchmarked.
When companies don’t benchmark:
- premiums drift upward
- exclusions expand quietly
- limits become misaligned
- endorsements go unreviewed
- brokers stop challenging carriers
This is how overspend hides in plain sight.
⭐ The Solution: A Full Insurance Benchmarking Review
At Exceedia Group, we look under every rock — because that’s where the hidden value lives.
Our insurance benchmarking process becomes your Treasure Map, showing:
- what you should be paying
- where you’re overpaying
- how your coverage compares to peers
- where your risk profile is mispriced
- what terms, limits, and exclusions need correction
This is not a broker review. This is a forensic, data-driven audit of:
- Property
- Casualty
- Workers’ Comp
- Auto
- Umbrella
- D&O
- E&O
- Cyber
- EPLI
- Environmental
- Specialty lines
We benchmark your program against companies like yours — locally, regionally, and nationally.
⭐ The Financial Impact: Why This Matters to CFOs, CEOs & Boards
Insurance is one of the few spend categories where:
- savings are meaningful
- savings are recurring
- savings flow directly to EBITDA
- savings improve valuation
Every dollar saved is a dollar of free cash flow — the lifeblood of every company.
And unlike cost-cutting or restructuring…
You’re not changing the business. You’re correcting the pricing.
⭐ What Companies Are Doing Today
Some organizations are:
- self-insuring certain lines
- restructuring retentions
- changing program architecture
- exploring captives
- renegotiating limits
- consolidating carriers
- re-marketing aggressively
Tesla even self-insured its D&O program for a year.
But none of these decisions should be made blindly.
They should be made with data, not desperation.
⭐ Our Recommendation: A Complete Insurance Review
Business conditions change. Regulations change. Risk profiles change. Markets change.
That’s why companies should conduct a full insurance review every year — not just renew policies.
A proper review:
- uncovers hidden savings
- identifies mispriced risk
- strengthens coverage
- improves financial metrics
- increases valuation
- protects the business
This is how you take back control from a carrier-dictated market.
⭐ Final Thought
Insurance isn’t just a cost. It’s a strategic lever — one that directly impacts free cash flow, EBITDA, and enterprise value.
When you benchmark your insurance program, you don’t just reduce premiums. You uncover hidden treasure inside your spend.
If you want to see what your Insurance Treasure Map looks like, DM me. We’ll show you exactly where the hidden value lives.
