The prudential regulator has updated the National Claims and Policies Database to include policy, claims, Lloyd’s and facility reports for the period ending December 2024.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority last published the NCPD in July 2023. The revised database contains information on every open, reopened or finalised claim and policy underwritten since 2003, comprising professional indemnity (PI) and public and product liability insurance (PL).

Taylor Fry principal Scott Duncan says the latest privacy-masked data points to an “uneven” liability market.

The data shows Lloyd’s market share has been stable over the past three years at 10% for PL and 16% for PI.

“This followed a period of growth, where they doubled their share of the PL market from 5% in 2020 to 10% in 2024. For PI, they grew from 10% in 2017 to 16% in 2024,” Mr Duncan said.

“These numbers are consistent with Lloyd’s increasing their capacity in Australia. While Lloyd’s market share has remained relatively stable from 2022 to 2024, the greater competition in the Australian market has placed pressure on rates.”

The PI market is soft in aggregate, with gross written premium from APRA-regulated insurers and Lloyd’s declining to $3.19 billion in 2024 from $3.3 billion a year earlier, according to Taylor Fry.

“More recent industry data shows this downwards rate pressure has continued into 2025 and 2026,” Mr Duncan said.

In directors and officers, written premium fell by more than 40% to $493 million from $874 million in 2021.

In other key takeaways, engineering and financial occupation PI premiums have moderated from covid-era highs; and affordability pressures are evident in the construction sector, with average PL premiums tripling in six years.

Mr Duncan says for general construction business underwritten by APRA-regulated insurers, the average written premium tripled from about $3000 to more than $9000 in the six years from 2018 to 2024, while the number of risks written fell by 22% from 22,500 to 17,500.

“The recent parliamentary inquiry into insurance premiums for small businesses has placed affordability under the spotlight,” he said. “The construction industry was one of the sectors called out for facing increasing insurance costs.”

APRA released the updated NCPD after stakeholder consultation on a refreshed format.

See the Taylor Fry analysis here.