Placement Trends: Construction & Manufacturing Insurance in 2026
Placement conditions across construction and manufacturing insurance continue to shift, and businesses renewing cover in 2026 are finding that the market they return to often looks quite different from the one they left twelve months earlier. Here are some of the trends we are seeing play out across our own placements this year, and what they mean in practice for businesses in these sectors.
Underwriting appetite is becoming more selective, not less available
It would be easy to assume that hardening conditions mean less capacity overall, but that isn’t quite accurate. Capacity within the London Market for well-presented, well-managed risks remains healthy. What has changed is that underwriters are being more selective about the risks they choose to deploy that capacity against — and more demanding about the quality of information they receive before doing so. Businesses that can demonstrate strong risk management, clear claims history and a properly documented presentation of their operations continue to find good options. Those that rely on a thin, generic submission are finding the market considerably less forgiving than it once was.
Contract works and plant remain under pressure
Within construction specifically, Contractors’ All Risks and plant insurance continue to see tighter terms, driven by a combination of rebuild cost inflation, ongoing supply chain volatility for specialist plant and machinery, and a run of high-value weather-related losses across the market. Businesses managing large or technically complex contracts should expect underwriters to ask more detailed questions about site security, sub-contractor management and business continuity planning than in previous renewal cycles.
Manufacturing: business interruption is the sharpest conversation
For manufacturing risks, the most pointed underwriting conversations in 2026 are around business interruption, particularly where a business has concentrated production in a single site or depends on a narrow set of critical suppliers. Underwriters are increasingly asking for evidence of contingency planning — alternative sourcing arrangements, backup production capability, and realistic indemnity period calculations — rather than accepting historic sums insured without challenge.
Liability placements are stabilising, cautiously
After a period of significant hardening, liability placements for construction and manufacturing risks are showing early signs of stabilising, particularly for businesses with clean claims records and demonstrable risk management. That said, this stabilisation is uneven across the market and shouldn’t be read as a return to soft-market conditions; it is best described as a market that is willing to reward good risks rather than one that is loosening broadly.
What this means for renewals this year
The consistent theme across all of these trends is that presentation and preparation now matter more than they have in some time. Businesses that engage early, provide detailed and accurate information, and work with a broker who understands how to present their risk to specialist underwriters are seeing meaningfully better outcomes than those that treat renewal as a like-for-like exercise. If your construction or manufacturing insurance is coming up for renewal this year, starting that conversation early — and with the right level of detail — is likely to be the single most valuable thing you can do.