US insurance buyers and sellers show a growing alignment on the risks reshaping today’s insurance landscape. While awareness of key threats has increased across all audiences, significant protection gaps remain, highlighting the need for continued education, innovation, and collaboration.
Munich Reinsurance America, Inc. (Munich Re US) and the Triple-I engaged independent market researcher RTi Research at the start of 2026 to survey 800+ US-based individuals from five marketplace segments across the insurance value chain. Participants included consumers, small business owners, middle-market decision makers, insurance agents and brokers, and insurance carriers.
Participants were asked to identify and rank their greatest concerns across five major categories: insurance risks, natural disasters, emerging technologies, P&C insurance costs, and market dynamics.
“RiskScan 2026 highlights the insurance industry’s need to accelerate development in the areas that matter most to P&C clients and their policyholders,” said Kerri Hamm, Head of Cyber Underwriting, Client Solutions, and Business Development, Munich Re US. “Insurers are enhancing their cyber offerings, advancing new models for emerging non-peak perils, and developing forward-thinking products designed to help businesses navigate evolving AI-related exposures.”
Cyber incidents, economic uncertainty, artificial intelligence (AI), business interruption, and natural catastrophes emerged as the most pressing concerns across consumers, businesses, insurance professionals, and carriers alike.
Notably, secondary perils, including floods, severe convective storms, winter weather events, and wildfires, are increasingly viewed as frequent, high-severity risks. Their growing impact is challenging traditional assumptions about catastrophe exposure, geographic diversification, and long-term resilience.
Among emerging risks, AI stands out as the technology expected to have the greatest impact on society and business. As adoption accelerates, organizations are increasingly focused on managing the operational, regulatory, cybersecurity, and liability implications associated with its use.
At the same time, respondents recognize that rising property and casualty insurance costs are being driven by multiple factors, including inflation, escalating catastrophe losses, and legal system abuse, all of which continue to pressure insurers, businesses, and consumers.
In the 2024 survey, a notable perception gap emerged around the factors contributing to rising P&C insurance costs. While all audiences identified inflation as a primary driver, insurance professionals also cited legal system abuse as a significant contributor — an issue that consumers and businesses did not rank among their top concerns.
By 2026, that gap has begun to narrow. Middle-market decision makers and small business owners now rank legal system abuse among the leading factors driving higher P&C insurance costs. Although consumers still do not view it as one of the top three cost drivers, awareness has increased substantially since 2024, suggesting a growing recognition of the role litigation-related costs and legal system trends play in shaping insurance affordability and availability.
RiskScan 2026 also highlights a persistent disconnect between awareness and action. Coverage gaps remain pronounced for flood and cyber risks, exposing individuals and organizations to potentially significant financial losses.
The survey also revealed a continued disconnect between consumers and insurance professionals when it comes to flood risk. While businesses and insurance professionals consistently ranked flood among the two most significant natural disaster threats, consumers expressed comparatively lower levels of concern.
However, the devastating floods experienced across the United States in 2025 served as a stark reminder of the growing threat posed by inland flooding and flash flood events. These disasters highlighted the increasing frequency and severity of flood losses and reinforced the importance of securing adequate flood insurance coverage.
This perception gap would seem to underscore a broader need for consumer education around flood exposure and the limitations of standard homeowners insurance policies, which typically exclude flood-related damage. Although small business owners identified flood as a leading concern, many may still be unaware that commercial property policies generally do not provide flood coverage without a separate policy or endorsement. Strengthening awareness of these coverage gaps can help individuals and businesses make more informed decisions and improve their financial resilience in the face of future flood events.
A similar gap exists between awareness and action when it comes to cyber risk. While cyber incidents are consistently identified as one of the leading concerns across all audience segments, cyber insurance adoption continues to lag, particularly among consumers and small businesses.
Despite recognizing the growing threat of cyberattacks, many individuals and small business owners seem to underestimate their own vulnerability and remain inadequately protected against cyber-related losses. As a result, a significant portion of cyber risk remains uninsured, leaving organizations and households exposed to potentially severe financial and operational impacts.
These findings highlight an important opportunity for the insurance industry to improve education and awareness around cyber threats, clarify existing coverage gaps, and demonstrate the value of cyber insurance solutions as part of a broader risk management strategy. By helping consumers and small businesses better understand their exposure, the industry can support more informed decisions and strengthen cyber resilience across the market.
A new addition to this year’s survey explored perceptions of the societal value of (re)insurance. Across all audiences, respondents identified three primary benefits: helping communities recover and rebuild after a loss event, providing long-term financial stability for individuals and businesses, and promoting risk prevention and resilience.
The findings also revealed an opportunity for the industry to strengthen understanding of its broader economic and social contributions. Respondents showed less awareness of the role insurance plays in enabling entrepreneurship, innovation, and investment by giving individuals and organizations the confidence to take informed risks. Increasing recognition of this value proposition can help reinforce insurance’s role not only as a financial safety net but also as a catalyst for economic growth and societal progress.
RiskScan 2026 reinforces a clear message for the (re)insurance industry: Today’s risk environment is no longer defined by isolated threats but by interrelated pressures that demand a more integrated and forward-looking response.
No single organization can address these challenges alone. Partnerships play a critical role. By fostering informed dialogue and proactive risk management, the insurance industry, along with other key stakeholders, continues to play a vital role in supporting economic stability, helping communities recover and preventing losses before they occur.
View the RiskScan 2026: (Re)insurance report: https://www.munichre.com/us-non-life/en/insights/reinsurance-riskscan.html
This article was created in partnership with Munich Re US
