Commercial
Private Client
Independent counsel for the insurance decisions that matter most.
Simpson | McCrady provides premier risk management and insurance solutions for commercial businesses and high-net-worth private clients across Pennsylvania and beyond. Founded in 1911, the firm combines over 100 years of expertise with a personalized, client-first approach to reduce and transfer risk exposures.
Speak with an AdvisorIndependent Insurance Counsel, Pittsburgh & the Mid-Atlantic
Not sure where to start? Get an honest opinion.
Two practices. One standard of counsel.
Commercial programs built around how your Pittsburgh-area business actually operates, not how an off-the-shelf policy assumes it does.
Property & Casualty
From manufacturing facilities and commercial real estate to technology offices, professional service firms, schools, and nonprofit campuses across Pittsburgh, Western PA, and the Mid-Atlantic, we build property and casualty programs that reflect your actual exposure, not a template designed for a different industry entirely.
Management Liability
Directors and officers, employment practices, fiduciary liability, and cyber risk don't fit neatly into a standard commercial package. For technology firms, private equity-backed companies, professional service firms, and institutional organizations in Pittsburgh and the Mid-Atlantic, we structure management liability programs with the precision the exposure demands.
Specialty Programs
Entertainment and broadcasting operations, schools, nonprofits, and niche manufacturing exposures require access to specialty carriers and surplus lines markets. We have those relationships, built over decades in the Pittsburgh and Mid-Atlantic market, and we know how to use them when standard market appetites run short.
Specialized coverage for the assets and exposures that standard carriers are not built to handle.
Homeowners & Estates
Your primary residence and secondary properties carry exposures that standard carriers are not structured to handle. We build homeowners and estate coverage that reflects the true replacement value of what you've built, so a claim settlement doesn't reveal a gap that no one disclosed at placement.
Collections & Fine Art
Fine art, jewelry, wine, antiques, and curated collections require specialized valuation and agreed-value coverage, not a rider on a standard policy. Our advisors work with leading specialty carriers to ensure your collection is covered at full market value, with no depreciation applied at the time of a claim.
Recreational Vehicles & Watercraft
Aircraft, yachts, classic cars, and motorcycles require coverage structures that account for seasonal use, agreed value, and liability exposure well beyond what an auto or homeowners policy provides. We manage that complexity so you can focus on the experience itself.
Personal Liability & Umbrella
HNW individuals and family offices face liability exposures that standard umbrella limits don't address. We structure personal liability and excess umbrella programs, including domestic staff coverage and trust and estate liability, sized to your actual risk profile, not a generic bracket.
The advantages of staying independent
We aren't owned by a national brokerage, and our strategy isn't set by a private equity firm. That independence is why our advice has held up for over 100 years.
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No outside owner deciding what your renewal has to produce.
A Century On
Perspective across every market since 1911.
Claim Advocates
A named advisor, never a call center or 1-800 number.
Relationship-Led
Often the same family, across generations.
Every account is different. Let's build yours.
Case studies
Rebuilding After the Unthinkable
When two of our clients experienced a devastating house fire, everything changed in an instant. Beyond the physical loss, they were faced with uncertainty, stress, and the overwhelming task of rebuilding.
This case study shows what truly matters in those moments: a responsive, compassionate insurance agency that stands beside you every step of the way. From immediate support to navigating the claims process and helping turn a damaged house back into a home, this story highlights the power of advocacy, communication, and trust.
Watch the video to see how support makes all the difference.
Private To Public
Simpson | McCrady became the broker for a startup business in the late 2000’s who had ultimate plans to go public. Through our risk mapping analysis and strategies to avoid, mitigate, transfer, and accept risk, we assisted the CFO and CRO in their efforts to plan for and stage a very successful IPO. The culmination of this strategy helped the client obtain significant advantage in the pre and post IPO Management Liability structure and cost including full road show coverage as well as post IPO securities litigation.
Long Standing Partnership
Through a strategic acquisition in 1997, Simpson | McCrady obtained a non-profit client who had first engaged the acquired brokerage firm in 1910. Through the last 22 years (and 87 prior), Simpson | McCrady has continued to support this client with outsourced risk management, board service, and financial support/fundraising. Over the last 22 years, the client’s total cost of risk has declined incrementally, a Simpson | McCrady partner chaired the Board of Directors for 6 years, and we have raised well in excess of $400,000 in financial support.
Planning for Tomorrow
A client had recently worked with their estate planning attorney to implement a family trust which had ownership in their secondary residence. Over the last few years, they had also recently sold their family business which caused a liquidity event. The middle market carrier that they were with through a direct writer incorrectly wrote their secondary home in the name of the trust on a commercial policy. With this policy they were incorrectly insuring the home and overpaying for the risk. The company also could not address the increased excess liability limits that the family needed at a reasonable cost.
We were able rewrite the client’s policies appropriately with a high net worth carrier that had the expertise and understanding to appropriately address the trust for liability and property coverage and also provide adequate excess liability limits to protect their tangible assets, net worth, and future earnings with more adequate pricing.
Find out what independent counsel could do for you.
Your advisor is a named person, not a service center.
At Simpson | McCrady, client relationships are held by individual advisors with the experience and authority to act on your behalf. Our senior team brings an average of 25 years of specialized experience across commercial and private client lines, and they answer their own phones.
Chris McCrady
Principal & CEO
S. Clayton Saftner
President & COO
CFO · Regional manufacturer
They understood our operation better than carriers we'd worked with for twenty years.
A Private Client family · Fox Chapel, PA
When a pipe burst over the holidays, our advisor had an adjuster at the house before we'd finished cleaning up. They treated it like it was their own home.
Private Client · Sewickley, PA
Three generations of our family, the same trusted firm. They simply know our story.
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Perspective worth keeping
Lithium-Ion Battery Handling & Storage
A best-practice guideline for preparing your facility or home for the safe use and storage of lithium-ion batteries and energy storage systems: how and why cells fail, the fast-shifting regulatory and liability landscape, and configuration-specific controls from a charging bench to a container-scale system.
A best-practice guideline for preparing your facility or home for the safe use and storage of batteries and energy storage systems.
The Growing Risk
Lithium-ion (Li-ion) and lithium-polymer (Li-Po) batteries now power nearly every corner of modern operations: cordless tools and equipment, material-handling fleets, electric vehicles, micro-mobility devices, and the large stationary energy storage systems (ESS) that stabilize power supply and support renewable generation. Their high energy density, long service life, and fast recharging have made them the default choice. Those same qualities, however, concentrate a great deal of energy into a small, chemically reactive package. When a Li-ion battery is defective, damaged, poorly stored, or improperly charged, it can fail violently, releasing intense heat, toxic gas, and a self-sustaining fire that conventional extinguishers struggle to control.
The scale of the exposure is growing with adoption. Since the start of 2025 alone, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued 46 recalls and safety warnings for consumer products powered by lithium-ion batteries, and several high-profile facility fires have reshaped how regulators, fire officials, and insurers view the hazard. For any organization that uses, charges, or stores these batteries in more than trivial quantities, the question is no longer whether to manage the risk, but how thoroughly.
This guideline is a practical roadmap for our clients. It explains how and why these batteries fail, summarizes the emerging legal and regulatory landscape, and lays out configuration-specific best practices for preparing your facility, from a handful of tool batteries on a charging bench to a container-scale energy storage system.
Understanding the Risk
How lithium-ion batteries fail: thermal runaway
Nearly every serious Li-ion incident traces back to a single phenomenon: thermal runaway. It begins when one cell generates more heat than it can dissipate, often because of an internal short from a manufacturing defect, physical damage such as a puncture or crush, overcharging, deep discharge, or exposure to excessive heat. As the cell heats, it ignites its own flammable electrolyte; that heat spreads to adjacent cells, which fail in turn, producing a self-reinforcing chain reaction. Because the reaction generates its own oxygen, these fires are difficult to extinguish, can reignite hours later, and react violently with water where lithium metal is present.
Critically, failure does not happen all at once. It escalates through recognizable stages, and the earlier the failure is detected, the more options remain to intervene.
Beyond fire: toxic and environmental exposure
Li-ion fires are not only a combustion hazard. Burning cells release highly toxic gases, including hydrogen fluoride (HF) and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS, the persistent “forever chemicals”), that can injure the eyes, skin, and respiratory system and require evacuation. Water used to fight a battery fire can become contaminated with heavy metals such as cobalt, nickel, copper, and manganese, creating a risk of soil and groundwater pollution if it is not contained. After the January 2025 Moss Landing energy storage fire in California, which destroyed roughly 55,000 battery modules, EPA soil sampling detected several of these heavy metals at levels exceeding screening standards in the surrounding area.
The emerging legal and regulatory landscape
The regulatory picture is shifting quickly, and it increasingly reaches organizations that merely handle batteries rather than manufacture them. In May 2023, the EPA advised that most lithium-ion batteries on the market today are likely to qualify as hazardous waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) based on their ignitability and reactivity. The agency is now developing a dedicated “universal waste” category for lithium batteries, with a proposed rule anticipated in 2026 and a final rule expected in 2027. At the state level, Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) programs are expanding. Illinois requirements took effect January 1, 2026, and California has enacted both stewardship-plan obligations (AB 2440) and a point-of-sale recycling fee (SB 1215). Meanwhile, some states impose stricter hazardous-waste thresholds than the federal baseline.
The liability exposure is equally significant. Under the federal Superfund statute (CERCLA), cleanup liability is strict, joint-and-several, and retroactive: facility owners and operators, parties that arrange for disposal or recycling, and transporters can all be named, and even sending a small volume of defective cells to a contaminated site can expose a company to a share of the full cleanup cost. Following Moss Landing, the operator entered a CERCLA settlement in July 2025 to fund a cleanup expected to take two or more years. Organizations once considered removed from battery operations, such as auto dealerships handling EV batteries or retailers managing consumer returns, can now trigger hazardous-waste obligations, and California penalties can reach tens of thousands of dollars per day, with criminal exposure for knowing violations.
Foundations: Selection, Inspection, and Built-In Safeguards
Buy quality; avoid counterfeits
The single most effective way to reduce battery risk is to keep defective cells out of your facility in the first place. Purchase tools, equipment, and batteries from reputable manufacturers whose products are certified to the applicable Underwriters Laboratories (UL) standards, and buy replacement batteries and chargers only from the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) or its authorized vendors. Counterfeit and aftermarket batteries frequently omit the internal safeguards that protect genuine cells and are a leading contributor to failures. Where your application allows, consider lithium iron phosphate (LFP / LiFePO₄) cells, a Li-ion chemistry known for greater thermal stability and lower susceptibility to thermal runaway.
Inspect on arrival and before every use
Establish a quality-control step so a designated employee inspects new batteries on delivery, and personnel check batteries before each use. Remove from service, and dispose of properly, any battery showing bulging or swelling; cracked, broken, or discolored casings; excessive heat during charging or use; hissing; leaking; or smoke or unusual odors. Multimeters and digital or infrared thermometers support periodic, documented health checks. Keep a Safety Data Sheet (SDS) on file for every battery on site; these drive correct storage, handling, and emergency response.
Rely on built-in protections, but not on them alone
Quality Li-ion batteries include layered safeguards: a separator that shuts down ion flow as temperature rises, a pressure-relief vent, thermal interrupts and fuses, overcharge and short-circuit protection, temperature sensors, cell balancing, and a Battery Management System (BMS) that monitors state of charge, temperature, and cell health and can disconnect the pack when it detects an anomaly. These features reduce risk but do not eliminate it; facility controls remain essential.
Preparing Your Facility by Configuration
The right controls depend on how batteries are used and stored. The practices below address the configurations our clients most commonly operate; a summary of key setbacks and standards appears in the table at the end of this section.
General and bulk storage
- Designate a single, controlled storage location for all Li-ion and Li-Po batteries: well-ventilated, dry, free of combustible materials, out of direct sunlight, and held at a manufacturer-appropriate temperature, generally about 50–80 °F (10–27 °C).
- For longer-term storage, keep cells at roughly a 30–50% state of charge rather than fully charged, and store only the minimum quantity needed; batteries packed closely together raise the risk that one failing cell will cascade to its neighbors.
- For larger volumes, keep quantities in high-hazard sprinklered areas incidental, limiting the battery footprint to about 200 ft² (20 m²) and 6 ft (1.8 m) in height, with roughly 10 ft (3 m) of open space to other stock and combustibles. Even a single pallet of Li-ion batteries can spread fire quickly, so consider relocating bulk quantities outdoors, to a temperature-controlled container, or to a dedicated fire-rated cabinet.
- Purpose-built Li-ion cabinets should be non-combustible (steel), fire-rated (commonly 90–120 minutes, to standards such as UL 94, FM 6050, or EN 14470-1), ventilated, fitted with pressure-relief/explosion venting and spill containment, lockable, and clearly labeled (for example, “Lithium-Ion Battery Storage: Fire Risk”); space multiple cabinets about 10 ft (3 m) apart.
- Bulk warehouse storage warrants a fire-protection engineering review, as it often requires segregated areas, in-rack sprinklers, higher ceiling sprinkler densities, and a strong water supply. Keep an ABC or Class D extinguisher (per the SDS) in the storage area.
Charging stations for tools and equipment
Most tool-battery incidents occur during charging. To avoid this:
- Charge only with the manufacturer-specified charger for that battery; never mix chargers and batteries across brands or use aftermarket chargers, which can defeat built-in protections. Locate charging on a non-combustible surface, away from egress routes and combustible storage, with space maintained between charging batteries.
- Charge only while personnel are present; do not charge unattended or overnight. Remove batteries from the charger once charged, allow hot batteries to cool before charging, and use charging bags or fire-rated charging cabinets where practical.
- Post charging and storage instructions at the station.
Energy storage systems (ESS / BESS)
Stationary energy storage introduces the largest concentration of stored energy on many sites and warrants a design-led approach. New systems should be certified to UL 9540 (Energy Storage Systems and Equipment) and evaluated using the UL 9540A test method, which characterizes thermal-runaway fire propagation and informs required spacing, ventilation, and fire protection; battery units should be UL 1973-listed and inverters UL 1741-certified. Installations should follow NFPA 855 (Installation of Stationary Energy Storage Systems) and NFPA 70 (Article 706). For further continuity:
- Detection is the linchpin. Off-gas monitoring detects electrolyte vapor at the earliest stage and can initiate an automatic shutdown and alarm before smoke or fire, while lower-explosive-limit (LEL) gas detection should be interlocked with ventilation to keep any flammable atmosphere below 25% LEL.
- For suppression, note that clean-agent gas systems generally will not stop a thermal-runaway fire; water-based protection is preferred (a wet-pipe sprinkler system, or an open-head deluge with a fire-department connection for container installations), with sprinkler density designed to at least Extra Hazard Group 1.
- Site ESS in a non-combustible, locked enclosure separated from the rest of the building by a two-hour fire barrier, or outdoors; keep exterior containers at least 20 ft from buildings unless rated thermal barriers are provided, and ensure the room is externally accessible for manual firefighting.
- Round out the design with supervised smoke detection, temperature monitoring with high-temperature alarms, coolant-leak detection, seismic bracing where required, emergency power disconnects, and clear signage. Because ESS are network-connected, incorporate cybersecurity into the BMS and firmware, and commission larger or custom systems with a qualified agent under a formal operations-and-maintenance program with online condition monitoring.
Material-handling equipment (forklifts and pallet jacks)
Electric material-handling fleets increasingly use Li-ion packs with decentralized “opportunity charging” throughout the operation. System best practices for this equipment include:
- Specify batteries and trucks listed to the relevant standards: UL 2580 for Class 1 and 2 forklifts, UL 2271 or UL 2580 for Class 3 pallet jacks, with UL 583 for the trucks and UL 1998 / UL 991 covering safety software and controls.
- Site opportunity-charging points on non-combustible surfaces, away from combustible storage.
- Report any physical damage to a battery or its enclosure immediately, and keep incident-response kits (fire blankets, gloves, non-combustible containment drums, and appropriate suppression media) near the equipment.
Electric vehicles and micro-mobility
E-bikes, e-scooters, and hoverboards are a frequent source of facility fires, and many jurisdictions now regulate them; in New York City, for example, e-bikes must be certified to UL 2849. As such, it is recommended that a policy be adopted that outlines the following:
- Either ban personal devices indoors, or allow only certified ones (UL 2849 / 2271 / 2272).
- Charge EVs with listed equipment installed by a qualified electrician, away from exits.
Emergency Response and Incident Readiness
Even well-run facilities should plan for failure. Build a written emergency response plan around the principle that early action and fast evacuation save lives and property. It is heavily recommended that the local fire department be contacted and made aware of the type, configuration, and location of battery systems within your facility. Having their insight and input into the development of your emergency response plan is vital.
Detection and isolation. Train staff to recognize the early signs (unusual odor, discoloration, swelling, excessive heat, hissing, or smoke) and, only if it is safe to do so, to move a suspect battery away from combustibles into a fire-rated isolation container. Keep a pail of sand nearby as a smothering agent.
Small, incipient fires. Because battery fires emit toxic fumes, all untrained personnel should evacuate immediately. Only personnel specifically trained to fight small battery fires should attempt to do so, positioned between the fire and the nearest exit; if the extinguisher is ineffective, smoke becomes heavy, or the responder is at all uncomfortable, they should evacuate. If flames are subdued, submerge the battery in sand or douse with water as directed by the SDS; sand is the safer choice where lithium metal may be present.
Thermal runaway and large fires. No one should attempt to fight a thermal-runaway or large-scale fire. Activate the alarm, evacuate the building, and call emergency services, providing the battery type and size, the location, and any hazardous materials present, and hand the relevant SDS to responders when possible.
First aid. For eye or skin exposure, flush with water for at least 15 minutes and seek medical attention; move anyone exposed to fumes or smoke into fresh air and administer first aid or CPR as needed. Because effects can be delayed, exposed individuals should be evaluated by a medical professional.
Disposal and cleanup. Never place Li-ion batteries in general waste; route them to a certified recycler, and store damaged units awaiting pickup in a non-combustible container located about 25 ft (8 m) from occupied buildings. Provide containment or retention basins to capture contaminated firefighting water, consistent with the environmental exposures described earlier.
Artificial Intelligence Has Changed the Cyber Threat Landscape. Here Is How You Should Be Thinking About Risk, Coverage, and Governance.
Source: Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG), “Adversaries Leverage AI for Vulnerability Exploitation, Augmented Operations, and Initial Access” — May 11, 2026. This memo summarizes key findings and their implications for your organization’s risk profile.
Source: Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG), “Adversaries Leverage AI for Vulnerability Exploitation, Augmented Operations, and Initial Access” — May 11, 2026. This memo summarizes key findings and their implications for your organization’s risk profile.
The Big Picture: What Google’s Intelligence Team Found
Google’s threat intelligence team published a landmark report documenting a fundamental shift in how cyberattacks are being carried out: artificial intelligence has become a standard weapon in attackers’ arsenals. The following is what the report found actively occurring:
AI governance is shifting from best practice to legal obligation. The regulatory timeline is compressed, and organizations that wait for binding enforcement to arrive will face a harder and more expensive path to compliance. Cyber insurance carriers and enterprise procurement teams are increasingly referencing these frameworks in applications and vendor reviews.
Not every organization is starting from the same place on AI governance. Identify your current stage below, then focus your next 90 days on the actions listed for that tier.
2026 Personal Insurance and Risk Management Trends in Private Client Services
A Comprehensive Analysis of Emerging Risks, Market Dynamics, and Strategic Solutions for High-Net-Worth Individuals The private client insurance landscape is experiencing unprecedented transformation driven by converging forces: escalating climate-related catastrophes, explosive cyber threats, nuclear verdict litigation trends, and the largest intergenerational wealth transfer in history.
A Comprehensive Analysis of Emerging Risks, Market Dynamics, and Strategic Solutions for High-Net-Worth Individuals
The private client insurance landscape is experiencing unprecedented transformation driven by converging forces: escalating climate-related catastrophes, explosive cyber threats, nuclear verdict litigation trends, and the largest intergenerational wealth transfer in history. As we enter 2026, high-net-worth (HNW) individuals and families face a fundamentally different risk environment than existed even five years ago.
Key findings include:
- Climate-driven property insurance costs rose 10.4% nationally in 2024, with catastrophe losses reaching $176 billion
- Personal cyber risk exposure exploded 3,000% for deepfake fraud, with average U.S. breach costs exceeding $10.22 million
- Nuclear verdicts ($10M+) median awards reached $23.8M in 2023, creating liability insurance crises
- Baby boomers control $19.7 trillion in real estate (41% of U.S. total), creating complex transfer challenges
- Protection gaps widened significantly, with only 47% of catastrophe losses insured in 2024
For private clients, their advisors, and family offices, 2026 demands proactive risk management strategies addressing these interconnected exposures while navigating an increasingly complex insurance marketplace.
The Evolving High-Net-Worth Risk Landscape
Baby boomers control $19.7 trillion in U.S. real estate—41% of total value despite representing only 20% of the population[1]. This concentration, combined with aging properties and intensifying climate risks, creates unprecedented insurance challenges.
High-net-worth individuals face converging exposures: multiple properties across catastrophe-prone regions, valuable collections requiring specialized coverage, elevated liability risks from social inflation, complex estate structures demanding policy coordination, and growing cyber vulnerability as digital wealth management expands.
The insurance protection gap has widened dramatically. In 2024, U.S. catastrophe economic losses reached $176 billion while insured losses totaled only $99 billion—a $77 billion protection gap[2]. For private clients, this reflects underinsurance from rapid property appreciation, coverage exclusions for flood and earth movement, policy sub-limits, increasing carrier restrictions in high-risk areas, and, in some cases, the choice to self-insure.
1. Climate Change and Property Insurance Crisis
The year 2025 marked the fourth-warmest on record for the United States, with 27 weather disasters exceeding $1 billion in losses each[3]. Notable events included the Eaton and Palisades Fires destroying 18,000+ structures in Southern California, Texas Hill Country’s 1-in-1,000 year flood killing 135 people, and 1,559 tornado reports—fifth-highest on record[3].
Sea level rise has doubled from .06 inches to .14 inches annually, creating 3-9 times more frequent coastal flooding than 50 years ago[4]. Combined with accelerating drought (42.8% of U.S. affected per US Drought Monitor), these trends fundamentally reshape property insurability.[4]
Insurance Market Response:
Homeowners insurance rates increased 10.4% nationally in 2024, with six states exceeding 20%[5]. Major carriers withdrew from California, Florida, and Louisiana, forcing reliance on surplus lines (up 31.2% to $5 billion) and residual markets (up 6% to $10 billion)[5]. Carriers implemented percentage-based wind/hail deductibles, roof age restrictions, and tightened underwriting standards.
For HNW clients with multiple high-value properties, this creates acute challenges: limited carrier options, higher premiums, broader exclusions, and potential uninsurability in catastrophe-prone coastal and wildfire zones where many retirement properties are concentrated.
How to address:
Home Resiliency
- Prioritize loss‑prevention tools as these steps can improve insurance options and potentially reduce premiums:
- Water leak detection and automatic shutoff systems
Whole home backup generators
Annual or seasonal maintenance checklists to address minor issues before they become major
Coverage Options
Review your policy for exposures such as flood, earthquake, and sinkhole to determine whether adding these coverages makes sense based on where your home is located.
Acquisitions
- Consult your advisor before making an offer—especially for out of town or out of state home purchases. This helps you ask your realtor the right questions, improve insurability, manage long term costs and make educated buying decisions.
- Consolidating coverage with one carrier can enhance program efficiency, improve eligibility for better coverage, and ensure consistency across policies to prevent gaps or overlaps in coverage.
2. The Cyber Threat to Personal Wealth
Escalating Personal Cyber Threats
Ransomware Evolution
Ransomware was involved in 44% of all data breaches in 2024, with attacks shifting to “double extortion”—stealing personal financial records, tax returns, estate documents, and smart home data before encrypting systems and threatening public release[7].
The Deepfake Epidemic
AI-generated deepfakes exploded 3,000% in 2025, enabling unprecedented fraud targeting wealthy individuals[9]:
- Voice cloning of family members requesting urgent wire transfers
- Video impersonations of financial advisors authorizing transactions
- Synthetic identity creation for account takeovers
- AI-enhanced phishing with 54% success rates—quadruple traditional methods[10]
Shadow AI Risks
Household staff and family members using unauthorized AI tools (ChatGPT, Claude) for convenience create data leakage risks as personal information may be retained and exposed.
Cyber Risk Management Best Practices
Private clients should implement layered cyber defenses:
Technical Controls
- Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Strongly recommended for all financial accounts, email, cloud storage.
- Endpoint Detection & Response (EDR): Advanced antivirus/anti-malware on all devices
- Network Segmentation: Separate IoT/smart home devices from financial/personal computing
- VPN Usage: Virtual private networks for all remote/travel internet connections
Interactive Best Practices
- Wire Transfer Protocols: Verbal confirmation of all wire instructions via known phone numbers
- Email Authentication: Training to identify phishing, suspicious links, urgency-based manipulation
- Social Media Privacy: Limit disclosure of travel, property locations, purchases, family information
Coverage Coordination
- Review homeowners for any cyber coverage endorsements and what limits are available.
- Coordinate with any business cyber policies if working from home.
- Understand what is and isn’t covered.
3. Nuclear Verdicts and Liability Crisis
Nuclear verdicts—jury awards exceeding $10 million—have escalated dramatically. Analysis of 1,288 verdicts from 2013-2022 reveals median awards reaching $23.8 million in 2023 (up from $21.1 million), with mega verdicts ($100M+) increasing 400% since 2013[14].
Florida leads with 0.939 verdicts per 100,000 people—50% higher than New York. California, Florida, New York, and Texas produce half of all national nuclear verdicts[15]. State courts host 90% of verdicts versus only 10% in federal courts.
Critically, noneconomic damages (pain and suffering) drive verdict severity. In seven of ten years, noneconomic damages exceeded punitive damages, demonstrating susceptibility to psychological manipulation including “reptile theory” tactics, anchoring (suggesting arbitrary amounts that double to quadruple awards), and $1 billion in annual lawsuit advertising normalizing extreme awards[16][17][18].
Impacts on Private Clients
A 2025 Georgia jury awarded $4.2 million for a dog attack—far exceeding typical homeowners policy sub-limits of $100,000-500,000[19].
Making sure you have an appropriate umbrella limit is paramount. This limit of coverage is meant to be a moving target that is adjusted as your lifestyle evolves. Have a conversation with your advisor to discuss any significant changes in your net worth and/or public profile. Higher limits are available and we’re here to help.
4. Intergenerational Wealth Transfer Challenges
Baby boomers control $19.7 trillion in real estate, with the boomer population projected to decline 23% by 2035 and another 47% by 2045—transferring enormous holdings to millennial and Gen X heirs[21][22]. However, nearly 40% have lived in current homes 20+ years, with 68% in homes at least 30 years old[23]. Deferred maintenance—aging roofs, HVAC systems, electrical, and plumbing—often requires $50,000-$200,000+ in immediate upgrades inheritors lack funds to complete.
Insurance Complications
When aging parents move to assisted living, standard homeowners policies limit vacant property coverage to 30-60 days, requiring vacant home endorsements (30-50% higher premiums), regular inspections, winterization, and security monitoring. Failure to maintain proper coverage results in claim denials for theft, vandalism, or weather damage.
Post-inheritance, carriers increasingly restrict coverage on older homes through roof age limitations (declining roofs over 15-20 years), four-point inspections, wind mitigation requirements, and wiring restrictions. Inheritors may discover properties uninsurable without significant investment.
Multiple heirs create additional complications: disagreement on disposition, unequal contribution ability, mortgage difficulties, and liability exposure when one heir is judgment-proof while another has assets.
Many boomers retired to Sunbelt locations—Florida, California, Texas, Louisiana, Arizona—now facing acute climate risks. Millennial inheritors discover properties in locations they don’t want with deteriorating insurance availability. [26].
Avoiding Underinsurance (and Overinsurance)
- Choose carriers that use in home appraisals, apply annual inflation guards, and offer guaranteed or extended replacement cost. These protections help maintain proper insurance to value.
- If you haven’t appraised your fine art, jewelry, or collectibles in 3–5 years, schedule an updated review. Rising precious metal values mean some items may now be underinsured, while others may not require as much coverage and should be reduced which would provide a premium savings.
Asset Transfer Guidance
- Speak with your advisor before transferring assets to ensure proper risk management and insurance planning.
- Advisors can help prepare the next generation with education, loss prevention strategies, and insurance guidance.
- Homes: Discuss improvements that enhance home resiliency and insurability.
- Jewelry, fine art, wine/spirits: Review loss likelihood and proper insurance and risk management approaches.
- Middle market carriers often won’t insure high value items, or, in some cases, charge more for inadequate coverage.
- Asset transfers often indicate that the next generation needs a more sophisticated, high net worth insurance program.
- Working with a private client insurance advisor ensures proper coverage, carrier selection, and expert guidance.
2026 Market Outlook
The private client insurance landscape of 2026 is characterized by converging mega-trends which interact and compound and the need to adjust accordingly is evident.
Property insurance faces continued volatility with national average increases projected 8-12% for homeowners, and 15-25% on average in catastrophe-prone states (FL, CA, TX, LA).
Percentage-based wind/hail deductibles expand beyond coastal zones, roof age limitations tighten to 15-year maximums, and carriers reduce willingness to write vacant or secondary homes. However, reinsurance rates declined 6.6% at January 2025 renewals, bringing modest relief.
Personal cyber policies are becoming a standard need for all clients, with limits increasing in response to the increasing risk.
Umbrella/excess liability premium increases moderate to 5-10% in 2026 after prior 15-30% spikes. There is additional underwriting scrutiny on driver records, property maintenance, dog breeds, and water features.
Conclusion
As the private client insurance environment undergoes rapid and profound change, high net worth individuals face a level of complexity and exposure unlike any previous era.
Climate driven property volatility, surging cyber threats, escalating liability awards, and the massive transfer of aging assets across generations are reshaping both risk and insurability.
In this landscape, protection gaps widen quickly, traditional carriers offer fewer solutions, and the costs of inaction grow exponentially. The path forward requires proactive planning—strengthening property resiliency, modernizing cyber defenses, securing adequate liability protection, and preparing heirs with the right education and insurance structures.
By partnering with skilled private client advisors and adopting a coordinated risk management strategy, families can safeguard wealth, maintain insurability, and navigate the evolving challenges of 2026 and beyond with confidence.
We invite you to reach out with any questions as we’re here to provide recommendations, information and guidance.
Interested in learning more? Check out our Insights page for other relevant education topics.
References
[1] Redfin analysis (2025). Baby boomer real estate holdings. Business Insider.
[2] National Association of Insurance Commissioners. (2025). Natural Catastrophe Risk Dashboard Report, December 31, 2024.
[3] National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). (2025). Assessing the U.S. Temperature and Precipitation Analysis in 2025. NOAA.
[4] NOAA Climate.gov. (2025). Sea level change data. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Climate Change: Global Sea Level | NOAA Climate.gov
Monthly Climate Reports | Drought Report | December 2025 | National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)
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