Verisk says claims are down 8.9%, and names the levers carriers used to get there
Verisk puts residential claim volume down 8.9% and credits policy design: ACV endorsements and percentage deductibles that suppress filings.
Verisk's Q1 2026 property data shows residential claim volume down 8.9% year over year and total claims 13.1% below the five-year average, despite active catastrophes. Verisk attributes the drop to policy design: ACV-only loss settlement endorsements, percentage deductibles (a 2% deductible turning a $3,000 water loss into no claim), and wind/hail deductibles now used "almost always." Water is 31.1% of claims and rising; hail claims fell 23.6%; average severity hit $16,079; roof replacement costs rose 33% in 2025.
Why it matters
This is the mechanism behind last week's "fewer but bigger" data. It's not that damage stopped. Deductibles and ACV language are killing the small-to-mid water and hail jobs before a homeowner ever calls you, while the losses that do become claims are larger and more complex.
The read
A soft quarter is the comfortable explanation, and it lets you wait for a rebound. Verisk named the levers itself: percentage deductibles, wind and hail deductibles, and value-only settlement language that kill the small claim before a homeowner ever calls you. That floor is permanent. Reprice your small-loss work for cash-pay customers, and move capacity toward the large losses that still clear the filter.
How we got here
Storyline: claims suppression 15 stories so far
What changed prior suppression coverage was about adjuster behavior; this quantifies the policy-language lever (deductibles + ACV) as the volume killer, straight from Verisk.
- 8 earlier stories on this storyline
- Policyholder firm calls State Farm's 2025 California wildfire claim delays a "systemic" problem
- The industry names its disease: normalized underpayment
- Did Allstate's "Good Hands" hide a payment-minimization scheme?
- Are insurers underwriting risk, or underwriting your independence?
- White-glove promises vs. fine print (Chubb)
- Oklahoma's AG sues Allstate over a "Disaster Payment Minimization Scheme" while State Farm's hail training becomes discovery bait
- Verisk says claims are down 8.9%, and names the levers carriers used to get there You are here
Read next
Sources Insurance Journal, Changes in Policy Language, Provisions Suppressing Claim Volume, Report Shows (published ).
Trade press reporting on a Vendor dataset (Verisk Q1 2026 Property Report). High confidence