Insurance claims kept falling in 2025, according to Verisk data from its ClaimSearch platform. The easier headline masks a tougher reality.
Loss drivers became more concentrated, less predictable, and harder for insurers to manage, which pushed severity and claim development in the wrong direction.
Several major lines posted lower volumes than in 2024. Homeowners claims dropped sharply, helped in part by a quieter hurricane season.
Still, large events such as the Los Angeles wildfires created more tangled loss patterns, with effects expected to stretch out over time rather than close quickly.
Homeowners claims fell 19% year over year to 5.27 mn, the lowest reading in five years after the 2024 peak.
Commercial property claims also moved lower, dropping to 710,000 from 910,000 in 2023. Personal auto claims slipped by nearly 3% in 2025 after a decline of around 5% a year earlier.
Commercial auto claims fell 5%, though volumes remained far above 2021 levels. That points to sustained exposure growth tied to commercial driving. Workers compensation and general liability claims stayed broadly flat, which suggests risk in major commercial lines remains steady, though not exactly light.
Newer sources of exposure are starting to show up more clearly in the data. Claims tied to gig economy activity rose sharply between 2021 and 2025. Gig-related commercial auto claims jumped 96% and now make up 10% of the total.
Food delivery drove much of that increase. Claims in that segment rose 300%. Ride-hailing claims increased 66%.
Other emerging liabilities are moving from fringe issue to something more concrete. Claims involving silica or crystalline dust climbed from a little over 100 to nearly 2,000 across the period. Claims linked to PFAS chemicals rose from almost nothing to about 700.
E-bike claims also moved up fast, climbing from roughly 1,000 to more than 4,000. Injury incidents, fires, and theft all contributed to the increase.
The Los Angeles wildfires in January 2025 showed how loss development is shifting.
The scale of damage came less from the physical size of the fire zone and more from fires hitting dense areas with higher-value homes. That matters for pricing, reserving, and how long the claim tail stays open.
Smoke damage became a major driver early. It accounted for about 30% of claims in the first month. Past wildfire events suggest those losses don’t appear all at once either.
A meaningful share of claims tends to surface well after the original event, sometimes over several years.
Auto theft insurance told a similar story. Claim volumes fell across 2024 and 2025, with theft claims down 25% in 2025 after a comparable decline the year before. Even so, the risk became more concentrated.
Some vehicles were targeted far more often than others, including models from Infiniti, Kia, Hyundai, and Acura. Those brands posted relatively high theft-to-collision ratios.
Catalytic converter theft also kept tracking moves in precious metal prices. Gains in platinum, palladium, and rhodium during 2025 point to renewed pressure there.
