2022 E&S insurance update: Preparing to weather any storm

Evermore dangerous and destructive storms are making for an increasingly difficult wholesale, excess and surplus insurance market. (Illustration by Chelsey Fredlund/ALM)

After weathering the COVID-19 ‘storm’ since early 2020 (and keeping a wary eye on the persistent presence of highly virulent, vaccination-resistant variants), E&S insurance professionals are turning much of their attention to literal storms — natural catastrophe (“CAT”) risks that, while not new, are becoming more dangerous, damaging and deadly from one year to the next.

But with many insurance carriers exiting the market, exemplified by the exodus of carriers in Florida, E&S professionals are in an ideal position to provide coverage where it is most desperately needed.