Property claims are being handled amid tighter labor capacity, more complex losses and slower-moving project decisions—but the available figures do not measure how much average claim duration has changed. Verisk recorded fewer U.S. assignments in its Q2 2026 network data than a year earlier, while catastrophe assignments made up a larger share. Sedgwick’s 2026 report highlights workforce, equipment and technology pressures that can complicate claim handling and restoration.
What the latest figures say about property claims
Verisk’s Q2 2026 figures describe assignments recorded through its XactAnalysis network, which carries work among insurers, independent adjusters and restoration contractors in the United States and Canada. They are not a count of every claim in the market, and they do not directly measure claim duration.
| Measure | Verisk’s reported figure | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. assignments in Q2 2026 | 1.24 million; down 12.21% year over year and 13.05% below the five-year average | The five-year comparison is against the same quarter in 2021–2025 and excludes 2026. Fewer assignments do not establish that claims are being settled faster or slower. |
| CAT share of assignments | 43% in Q2 2026, compared with 34% five years earlier | Verisk attributes the higher share to a sharper decline in non-CAT assignments; the number of PCS-designated events held relatively steady. |
| Average reported claim severity | $17,085, down 10.77% year over year | This is provisional. Verisk estimates Q2 severity could mature to $18,794 or more than $19,400 under a stronger maturation scenario; those are projections, not final results. |
| Reconstruction pricing | Combined labor and material costs rose 4.0% year over year; total reconstruction costs rose 3.8% | These are Verisk’s national averages. Actual prices can vary by location. |
Verisk’s assignment data therefore show a change in volume and mix, not a direct measurement of delay. Sedgwick separately reports that the United States experienced 23 weather disasters causing more than $1 billion in damage in 2025, with an average of 10 days between billion-dollar disasters that year. Those are disaster-frequency figures, not counts of insured claims.
Why claim handling and restoration can become more complicated
Staffing gaps affect both surge capacity and expertise
Sedgwick estimates that 25% of claim adjusters are expected to retire by the end of 2027. In a survey cited by The Institutes, 73% identified loss of industry knowledge as an expected consequence of the retirement wave, while 53% identified recruiting a new generation of talent. These are a forecast and survey responses, not observed retirement totals or proven outcomes.
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The operational risk is not simply having fewer people available after a major event. Experienced adjusters also carry knowledge about policy interpretation, loss assessment and how to move a difficult claim through review. Andrew McCallum, Sedgwick’s vice president of specialty operations, described the concern as a “brain drain” alongside increasingly intricate policies and underwriting.
Construction labor and specialized equipment constrain restoration
Sedgwick says the U.S. construction industry is expected to need 349,000 additional workers in 2026. It also reports that lead times for some specialized project equipment have more than doubled over five years. That equipment point concerns specialized project needs; it should not be read as a statistic about ordinary household repair materials.
Field deployment itself has costs. McCallum noted that fuel and hotel costs have increased the expense of sending teams to work. For a large loss, a restoration schedule can depend on both available crews and the right equipment reaching the site.
Large losses require decisions across multiple parties
ATI Restoration CEO Brant Wilson says large-loss reviews can involve multiple insurers, adjusters, brokers, environmental specialists and consultants. If those participants must supply information or approve decisions in sequence, a project can wait even when restoration work is otherwise ready to proceed. Wilson describes the challenge as “getting it to the right person, to the right decision maker.” These are observations from ATI’s operations, not a measured finding about every restoration provider.
Wilson also points to batteries, electric vehicles and solar panels as additional considerations in fire cleanup and mitigation. Their presence can affect the questions specialists need to resolve; the reporting does not quantify how often these assets delay claims.
Are AI and technology impacting claims processes?
Yes, but the evidence here establishes use cases and expectations rather than proof that technology has shortened claim timelines. Sedgwick’s public highlights describe AI support for documentation review, estimating and claim routing. ATI says it uses AI to check estimates and organize communications, with employees retaining responsibility for decisions.
Sedgwick managing director of property operations David Guaragna frames the goal as combining claims expertise with intelligent workflows so professionals can process information faster and make better decisions—not replacing adjusters. Sedgwick also says that scaling integrated workflows remains a challenge.
Sedgwick’s public report page lists forward-looking estimates of $100 billion in expected insurer value related to AI, a 20–25% expected reduction in loss-adjusting expenses and a 30–50% expected reduction in claims leakage. These are Sedgwick projections, not measured savings reported as achieved; the public highlights do not provide detailed underlying methodology.
Best Value
The distinction matters: automating document review or routing may help organize work, but the sources do not show that these tools have reduced overall claim duration. Better technology still depends on usable data, integration with existing processes and human oversight of coverage and settlement decisions.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the findings do—and do not—establish
The evidence points to interacting pressures: a greater CAT share of network assignments, forecasts of workforce and construction-labor needs, specialized-equipment constraints, and coordination demands on large losses. Rising reconstruction costs also matter to the financial size of repairs, even when assignment volume falls.
- Established: Verisk’s network recorded fewer assignments overall in Q2 2026 than in the comparison periods, with CAT assignments representing a higher share.
- Not established: Whether the average property claim is taking longer or shorter to close. Assignment counts and severity estimates are not duration measures.
- Established as forecasts or estimates: Sedgwick’s workforce and equipment figures, and its projected AI-related savings. These should not be presented as realized outcomes.
- Based on company observations: ATI’s account of stakeholder handoffs and new fire-cleanup considerations. It is useful operational context, not a prevalence study across the restoration industry.
What insurers and restoration teams can evaluate
The reporting does not rank vendors or test software products. For organizations reviewing their own workflows, it suggests several practical evaluation areas rather than a source-provided scorecard:
Quick Recap
- Knowledge continuity: How experienced adjusters transfer policy and loss-assessment knowledge to newer staff, and how complex decisions are escalated.
- Catastrophe readiness: Whether staffing, field deployment and specialist capacity can scale when catastrophe work becomes a larger share of assignments.
- Decision handoffs: How insurers, adjusters, brokers, consultants and restoration teams share information and identify the person empowered to approve the next step.
- Workflow integration: Whether estimating, documentation, mapping, dashboards and AI-assisted routing work together instead of creating extra review queues.
- Human review and quality: Which decisions remain with qualified professionals, how estimate checks are audited and how errors or disputed recommendations are corrected.
- Local fit: Whether staffing and cost assumptions reflect the affected area, since Verisk’s national pricing averages can differ from local conditions.
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