This article is produced in partnership with Hiscox.
The commercial property sector isn’t short on challenges. Between a shaky economic recovery and a noticeable uptick in weather-related events, property owners are facing pressure on multiple fronts. Commercial landlords are struggling to maintain rental incomes, as local boutiques and high-street chains grapple with tighter margins and uncertain demand.
Simultaneously, the frequency and severity of weather-related events is disrupting long-standing assumptions about property resilience and risk exposure. Insurers, too, are having to recalibrate.
“There’s a lot hitting the market at once,” says Keith Winder, Senior Development Underwriter for Property Owners at Hiscox. “You’ve got landlords trying to maintain income in underperforming retail spaces, and then you add in floods, storms, and infrastructure strain. It’s not just one risk - it’s a web of them.”
Hiscox, which entered the UK property owners’ market in 2021, has taken a focused approach—building out specialist underwriting capacity and aligning closely with brokers to offer tailored support for complex and higher-value risks in the property sector.
But even with deeper expertise and greater flexibility, Winder cautions that insurance alone can’t offset structural market challenges. “We’re seeing more capacity, yes,” he says, “but it’s coming into a market that’s still under stress.”
This blend of opportunity and constraint is shaping a new phase for property insurance—one where tailored insight and long-term thinking may prove more valuable than any short-term pricing advantage.
While certain lines of business are seeing pricing rate stabilisation, the property sector is still carrying the weight of pandemic-era disruptions. Corporate insolvencies are up, and unoccupied buildings—especially those in secondary towns and retail corridors—continue to pose difficult questions for owners and underwriters alike.
“We’ve gone from a hard market, where everyone was re-evaluating risk post-COVID, to something more nuanced,” Winder says. “Yes, there’s more capacity now, but landlords are still contending with vacancies, re-lettings, and in some cases, falling rental values.”
Notably, it’s not just smaller or independent operators under pressure. Winder points to high-profile exits by national chains—Debenhams, Wilko, and Homebase among them—as evidence that even large tenants aren’t immune. Their departures leave gaps not easily filled, and these vacancies have a knock-on effect on property valuations, investment appetite, and insurance placement.
In this environment, the value of consistency and clarity has grown. For Hiscox, that has meant focusing less on chasing short-term growth and more on underwriting discipline—pricing to retain, not just to win. “We’re not looking to be the cheapest,” says Winder. “We’re looking to offer fair value and to be in the same position next year when a client comes back.”
Alongside these financial strains, insurers are closely monitoring changes in climate-related loss patterns. A quiet first half of the year might look like a reprieve, but experience has taught insurers not to get comfortable. “If we get a few days of thunderstorms, you could be looking at flash flooding in multiple postcodes,” says Winder. “The ground’s dry, the drains aren’t built for it, and you get a sharp spike in claims.”
Unlike longer-term trends that develop over time, environmental events often arrive with little warning. The issue isn’t that they’re entirely new—it’s that they’re more frequent and more severe than many models accounted for a decade ago. From an underwriting standpoint, the result is a narrowing window for assumptions and more scrutiny around things like flood resilience and building materials.
This is why it’s crucial that Hiscox’s claims team works closely with its underwriters. The collaboration is central to how the firm handles property risk- ensuring that when losses do occur, clients aren’t left waiting or uncertain about how their policy responds. “It’s not just about what’s written into the cover,” Winder says. “It’s about how we deliver on it – and our Claims NPS score of 77 illustrates how we show up for our customers when it matters most”
Winder notes a growing emphasis on transparency and long-term value, especially from landlords dealing with more assertive tenants. “There’s more scrutiny now,” he says. “Tenants want to understand insurance costs, landlords have to justify them, and everyone’s trying to make the numbers work.”
In response, Hiscox has leaned into features such as interest-free direct debit payment options and long-term agreements with flexibility built in—though not always from day one. “We offer long-term agreements once we’ve proven we’re a good fit for each other,” Winder explains. “It’s effectively ‘try before you buy’—we want clients to feel confident in what they’re signing up to.”
Hiscox continues to invest in risk advisory services, helping clients understand exposures such as underinsurance, which is still a persistent issue across the UK property market. Despite decades of awareness campaigns, around 80% of properties are still believed to be undervalued for insurance purposes. “It’s the iceberg effect,” Winder says. “Everyone sees the tip, but the real danger sits beneath.”
Another defining feature of Hiscox’s model is its appetite for complexity. Whether it’s heritage buildings, properties undergoing redevelopment, or unconventional risks like food manufacturing facilities or entertainment venues with holographic installations, the insurer evaluates each submission on its own merits.
“We don’t shy away from the unusual,” says Winder. “We’ve written cover for 3D amphitheatres and museums in wartime bunkers. What matters is having the right information and taking a sensible approach.”
This includes recognising where Hiscox isn’t the right fit. “We don’t say yes to everything,” he adds. “But when we say no, we explain why. That kind of clarity helps brokers—and clients—move forward with the right solution, even if it’s not with us.”
For Hiscox, the path forward is about more than just flexibility. It’s about delivering underwriting insight, consistent service, and a pragmatic view of risk in a sector where stability is now a competitive advantage.
“We know the market’s changing,” says Winder. “But we’re not trying to predict the next cycle. We’re focused on offering something durable—something clients can rely on when the unexpected happens.”
