Articles - Advancing Data Driven Decision Making in 2026

 

Looking at the personal lines motor market, based on our analysis[i], the average car insured in the UK is now close to 11 years old (June 2025 data)— its oldest in decades – and the average value has fallen by £500 in the last two years. This ageing fleet brings new risk dynamics around repair costs, parts availability, and total-loss frequency, especially when flood is added to the mix. Aviva recently confirmed that motor flood claims in October 2024 accounted for almost a fifth of all flood-related claims in 2024[ii].

 

While insured vehicles are getting older, the market must also adapt to the twin challenges of growing EV adoption and the increasing availability of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) in vehicles. It’s not just the cost of repairs but also learning how these technologies impact driving behaviour and safety.

 

Each of these trends introduces emerging complexity for underwriting and claims. Understanding how specific ADAS features impact crash frequency or severity, and how EV components affect repair costs, will require deeper data insights than ever before. Insurance providers that harness real-time data — combining build-spec intelligence, maintenance history, driver information, and overnight parking location through a single integrated gateway — will be better positioned to accurately assess risks such as theft and flood exposure, price with precision, and manage loss ratios more effectively in 2026 and beyond.

 

At the claims stage, data enrichment will also be critical. Instant access to verified vehicle and driver data at the first notification of loss can accelerate decision-making, improve accuracy, and ultimately enhance the customer experience by reducing friction and settlement times.

 

The commercial property market has begun to feel a cautious sense of optimism based on recent market activity, particularly in the latter part of 2025[iii]. Investor demand for office and industrial space rose by 30% in Q3 2025[iv].  As such, there has been an uptick in premium writing and e-traded commercial property business has grown significantly in recent years. This bodes well for brokers and insurers focused on this line of business in 2026. However, climate-related perils are creating increased risks and demanding a greater level of portfolio management.  Weather-related business claims totalled £124 million in Q2 2025 and the average commercial property claim came in at £17,400[v].
 
To maximise the opportunities to write business in commercial property, pricing professionals need a comprehensive view of risk at speed, accessing all the data they need from one trustworthy source  rather than multiple suppliers, as part of a digitised quote process.

 

They need strong location data alongside bespoke data that helps them better understand the risk in totality – inside the building and out.  This would include granular insight into the property including the construction, age, roof type, height, number of floors, the presence of basements or extensions, its location, topography and perils exposure – now and in the future. These risk factors should be understood alongside the business activity, the function and operations within the building, as well as the risks of the individual employees.

 

Data is only beneficial if it can be operationalised – whether it’s an MGA or broker attracting a capacity provider or an insurer looking to understand their exposures during a weather event. Modern geospatial intelligence visualisation tools such as LexisNexis® Map View enable insurance providers to visualise environmental factors such as flood, subsidence, fire and windstorms – in real time – down to a building outline or across a whole property portfolio. By combining multiple data layers, insurance providers can pinpoint risk accumulations, exposures and guide pricing or reinsurance decisions. Underwriters can also continuously monitor zones and track changes automatically during the underwriting process.

 

Taking that a step further, these same tools could be used to streamline decisioning for commercial property risks by extending beyond environmental and building footprint / height data to incorporate more granular detail on the property and business activities in the building and the people behind the business being insured. The result: faster quotes, more accurate pricing and products better aligned to the risk, reducing the danger of underinsurance.

 

While 2026 is likely to bring further volatility in rates and claims costs, this is nothing new for the industry, rather business as usual in a market that thrives on adaptability. What's different now is the growing urgency of climate resilience. With weather-related losses climbing, it will be the ability to use data to understand, predict, and mitigate risk that will set insurance providers apart. The message for the year ahead is simple: the more data insight, the better prepared the market will be-for pricing, for claims, and for the changing world of risk.