Year-end renewals are expected to bring a reduction in property catastrophe reinsurance rates, but pricing is expected to stay at a level where reinsurers can maintain profitability, executives said at last week's Rendez-Vous de Septembre meeting. Reinsurers have retained earnings from the past two years to elevate their capacity, which has heightened market competition, although top reinsurers said they plan to maintain discipline in their underwriting.

The buyer's market for cyber reinsurance is poised to continue at January renewals, as capacity remains strong and better terms are likely for high-performing portfolios, according to executives at last week's Rendez-Vous de Septembre meeting. The market continues to be profitable, but more post-loss resilience is necessary to handle adverse trends more effectively, executives said.

Church Mutual's Jeff Zehr said the insurer is is working with APCIA and other groups "to advocate for stability in the commercial insurance marketplace" amid headwinds that include a challenging legal environment. Church Mutual also is adopting a specialized underwriting approach to better address the diversity of nonprofits, focusing on areas including arts, community services and food banks, as many nonprofits are contending with higher premiums, reduced coverage options and funding challenges, Zehr said.

The adoption of AI in property casualty insurance is transforming the industry's jobs rather than eliminating them, writes Shareen Minor of Ontellus, a records retrieval and claims intelligence company. AI excels at handling large volumes of data quickly, particularly in medical records retrieval, but human oversight remains crucial for tasks requiring judgment and contextual understanding, Minor writes.

The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries says a proposed 4.9% average increase in the 2026 hourly rate for workers' compensation insurance would help offset higher benefits costs. The proposal would increase the average coverage cost for a full-time employee by $1.37 per week.

A tropical depression in the central Atlantic intensified to become Tropical Storm Gabrielle this morning, and the National Hurricane Center forecasts that the storm could reach hurricane strength this weekend. The US and northeastern Caribbean could experience rough surf, rip currents and other indirect impacts from the system, while Bermuda could face direct impacts.

Gucci, Alexander McQueen and Balenciaga have experienced a customer data breach linked to the ShinyHunters gang, which claims to have accessed data of 7.4 million email addresses, including customer spending information. Kering, the brands' parent company, has confirmed the breach but says no financial information was compromised.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., have quickly rejected a short-term government funding plan introduced by Republican leaders, increasing the risk of a government shutdown on Oct. 1. Schumer and Jeffries have criticized the plan as failing to meet the needs of Americans and have urged Republicans to engage in bipartisan negotiations.