3-Minute Read
Aug 20, 2026
Joe Hayes has spent close to three decades in casualty underwriting and wholesale brokerage, work that now puts him in the role of President of Jencap’s Brokerage Division. That vantage point is exactly why Insurance Insider asked him to sit down for a conversation, “Habitational Casualty Under Pressure: What Brokers Need to Know.” In it, Hayes outlines the exposures reshaping the market, discusses claims inflation and geographic volatility, and walks through how each shows up differently depending on where a property sits. It’s a compelling (and relevant) conversation that applies to anyone working on real estate, industrial, and habitational insurance risks.
What’s Pushing Rates and Tightening Terms
A few forces are converging at once, from claims severity to social inflation to litigation trends. Fraud remains a persistent drag on loss ratios too (particularly on the casualty side). Layer in liability regulations that vary by state, sometimes by municipality, and it’s easy to see why underwriters at commercial real estate insurance companies have gotten more selective. Residential, commercial, and mixed-use habitational insurance risks are all feeling it, just in different ways. None of this is entirely new. What Hayes points to is the pace of change, which is what tends to catch agents off guard.
What This Means for Your Renewals
Renewing habitational insurance policies goes far beyond any premium increase or decrease. Agents also need to distinguish a property’s ongoing habitational exposures from construction-related risks, which may require separate underwriting and coverage considerations. It’s important to consider the local liability climate, how the property is actually managed day to day, and whether the client has any real risk management practices in place as well. All of it factors into what terms a carrier will offer and at what price.
Hayes points to specialty wholesale brokers as a resource here. Navigating shifting carrier appetite, increasingly complex underwriting requirements, and a difficult habitational casualty insurance placement isn’t something most retail agents want to handle alone, especially as fewer markets stay willing to write frame or garden-style risk. A wholesale broker who works this market daily can usually tell you which carriers are still writing new business and which have pulled back without updating their guidelines.
His advice ahead of renewals? You’ll have to watch Joe Hayes’ full Insurance Insider interview for his perspective on what agents should prioritize as renewal pressures continue.
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