Insurance group Brit has renewed its US Hospital Professional Liability Consortium 7882 for the 2026 underwriting year, as surging verdict values and social inflation continue to roil the American healthcare liability market.
The renewal marks the fourth consecutive year for the consortium, which serves US-based hospitals and health systems with a maximum capacity of $10 million for individual programs. This capacity can be deployed across multiple layers, with a focus on primary and lower excess placements.
Jon Sullivan, group chief underwriting officer at Brit, said the renewal addresses mounting pressures facing healthcare providers. "The renewal of Consortium 7882 comes at a crucial moment given the growing challenges faced by the US healthcare industry," Sullivan said.
Post-pandemic financial constraints, rising social inflation, and elevated settlement and verdict values have combined to drive sustained demand for hospital professional liability capacity – even as carriers have grown increasingly reluctant to deploy it.
Medical malpractice payouts have climbed sharply in recent years as nuclear verdicts exceeding $10 million and thermonuclear verdicts surpassing $25 million become more commonplace.
The trend has left carriers vulnerable to outsized losses, with few insurers now willing to deploy more than $5 million of professional liability limit on a per-claim or aggregate basis.
High-severity sectors face particularly constrained capacity and continued rate increases. Excess limits are being reduced in high-risk jurisdictions including New York, California, Florida, and Washington D.C., where claims severity and plaintiff-friendly legal environments have made underwriting increasingly challenging.
Tom Kennedy (pictured above), class underwriter for healthcare liability at Brit, said the consortium's structure offers a solution amid these constraints.
"The renewal of the consortium, with 100% Lloyd's of London capacity, will ensure that clients can continue to benefit from a pre-placed, syndicated and diversified capacity offering at a time when available capacity for US hospitals is increasingly constrained," Kennedy said.
The HPL consortium was first established in 2023 and has since provided coverage options for hospitals navigating a liability environment marked by elevated claim costs and diminishing insurer appetite.
Sullivan added that the company aims to manage client needs across a range of programs through its capacity structure.
