Aon has launched two consulting-led diagnostic tools, the Property Risk Diagnostic and the Casualty Risk Diagnostic, designed to give risk and finance leaders an evidence-based view of their exposure and where to act first.
The broker said risk and finance leaders are under growing pressure to show how risk is managed and where investment delivers a return. For property, that means understanding which sites and hazards drive expected loss and which resilience measures are worth funding. For casualty, rising claims costs, evolving regulation and continued margin pressure have made total cost of risk (TCOR) a board-level metric.
"Clients are asking a sharper question than a few years ago: not just what their risk is, but what to do about it and what it is worth," said Christian Hoffman, chief executive of commercial risk at Aon. "Our Property Risk Diagnostic and Casualty Risk Diagnostic are two distinct tools built for two distinct problems, but they share the same purpose: giving risk and finance leaders an evidence base they can act on with confidence."
The launch comes as property and casualty markets move sharply apart. In the US, commercial property premiums fell 1.2% in the first quarter of 2026, the first decline since 2017, with some real estate buyers securing double-digit rate reductions, according to Alliant Insurance Services' 2026 Mid-Year Insurance Marketplace Insights and Observations Report.
Casualty is moving the other way. US auto liability rates are rising by between 7% and 25%, and umbrella liability by between 10% and 20%, with social inflation and nuclear verdicts showing no sign of easing. The UK market shows a similar split, with property rates continuing to fall while motor, casualty and D&O show where the soft market is starting to fray.
That divergence makes separate analysis of property and casualty risk a practical necessity, because the case a buyer makes to underwriters at renewal now differs sharply by line.
The Property Risk Diagnostic is delivered by Aon Global Risk Consulting risk engineers. It combines modelled and historic loss estimates across natural catastrophe and day-to-day property risks, adjusted for risk improvements already in place. Clients can compare sites and hazards, test resilience options side by side to understand risk reduction and payback, and identify the locations and perils driving expected loss and volatility.
Aon consultants then turn the findings into a resilience roadmap that can be refreshed over time. Aon says the roadmap is designed to evidence year-on-year improvement and support renewal discussions, which gives clients a documented record of risk improvement to put in front of underwriters.
The Casualty Risk Diagnostic analyses client claims data across auto liability, general liability and workers' compensation, the US equivalent of employers' liability. It benchmarks performance against Aon's proprietary peer database and provides interactive, self-serve insight every quarter. Features include peer benchmarking, a savings calculator to quantify the return on mitigation, a performance tracker, and advisory support on mitigation, risk transfer and retention decisions.
The tool is initially available to clients in North America, with broader international availability planned for 2027.
Updating TCOR tracking every quarter rather than at renewal changes the nature of the broker-client conversation. It shifts the relationship from an annual placement exercise to ongoing performance review, where brokers can show progress or flag deteriorating trends before they reach renewal.
"Analytics only create value when they inform what a client does next," said Richard Waterer, Aon's global risk consulting leader. "Both tools are consulting-led by design. Our engineers and consultants sit alongside the data, helping clients interpret the findings, agree on priorities and turn them into measurable improvements over time."
The launch continues Aon's push to extend its role beyond placement into ongoing advisory work. The new tools join its AI Risk Diagnostic, launched in July to help organisations assess AI governance maturity and exposure, as well as Aon Broker Copilot, Aon Claims Copilot and its suite of Risk Analyzers covering property, casualty, cyber and D&O.
The move reflects a broader shift in commercial broking. As pricing becomes more transparent and risk buyers more data-literate, clients increasingly expect brokers to provide evidence-based advice on risk mitigation and programme design, not just to negotiate premium. Investment in diagnostic tools of this kind is one way the largest brokers are responding.
