The Ivans Index for Q3 2026 is out, and for once the headline is friendly: renewal increases eased in five of the six major commercial lines compared to Q2. The one line that matters most to contractors, though, is still the most expensive line on the page.
The Ivans Index measures what the same policy costs at renewal versus the year before, built from more than 120 million transactions across 38,000-plus agencies and 600 insurers and MGAs. It is not a survey and it is not asking prices. It is what renewals actually did.
The numbers, line by line
Commercial property renewals averaged a 5.65% increase in Q3 2026, down from 6.40% in Q2. Inside the quarter the slide was steady: 6.16% in July, down to 5.11% by September.
Umbrella renewals averaged a 6.88% increase in Q3 — the highest of any major line, even though it eased from 7.96% in Q2. Umbrella’s softest month, September at 6.40%, still ran hotter than the full-quarter average for every other line except BOP and property.
General liability cooled the hardest, averaging 4.12% in Q3 against 5.44% in Q2, and dropping to 3.19% by September. Commercial auto averaged 3.63%, down from 4.93%. BOP averaged 5.61%, down from 6.16%.
Workers’ compensation is still the one line paying the policyholder back. Renewals averaged −1.17% in Q3 — the average comp renewal still came in cheaper than the year before. The decline narrowed a little from −1.37% in Q2, so the free ride is flattening, but it has not ended.
Why property cools and umbrella doesn’t
Property is cooling because the pressure that drove it is letting go. Years of steep increases rebuilt carrier margins on property, capacity came back, and insurers are competing for good risks again. A line where carriers want the business is a line where your broker can push.
Umbrella sits on top of different math. It pays after your auto and liability limits run out, which means it prices the worst day, not the average day. Large verdicts and expensive third-party injury claims keep landing in that layer, and construction lives in it — fleets on the road, workers and visitors on jobsites, contracts that require high limits before you can bid. The release itself doesn’t assign causes; that is the industry context every broker will give you, and the Ivans numbers are what it looks like when it hits a renewal.
That is also why umbrella “easing” needs translating. A drop from 7.96% to 6.88% is real relief in direction. It is still the biggest increase you will see at your next placement, and on a large umbrella premium it is the line most likely to move your total program cost.
What to do with this at your next placement
Start the umbrella conversation first and start it early. It is the line with the least room and the longest underwriting memory, so it is the worst one to negotiate in the last two weeks before renewal.
Spend your leverage on property instead. A cooling line with carriers competing is where remarketing, deductible conversations, and schedule cleanup actually get rewarded. September property renewals came in a full point softer than July’s, so timing inside the quarter is currently worth real money.
Treat workers’ comp as found money with an expiration date. Rates are still falling, but the fall is flattening. If your experience mod work and payroll audits are clean, this is the year that discipline shows up as a credit rather than just avoiding a debit.
And do not let a softening market talk you out of shopping the program. Ivans itself noted that agencies and brokers are consolidating business with preferred partners in this environment. Carriers are choosing their favorite brokers right now — which means a broker who brings them clean, complete submissions is worth more this year than in a hard market.
John Hubbard’s companion piece, “Where Contractors Have Room at Renewal — and Where They Don’t,” gives the producer’s view of where that room actually is.
One caution about indexes
You may also see Marsh’s Q3 index, which reported property rates down 10%. That is not a contradiction and it is not the same measurement. Marsh tracks its own global placements, heavily weighted to large accounts; Ivans tracks actual U.S. renewal transactions on the same policy year over year. Marsh says the direction of travel for big property programs is down. Ivans says the average U.S. renewal — the world most contractors live in — still went up 5.65%, just by less than it used to. For a contractor’s budget, the Ivans number is the one to plan around.
The short version: five lines are getting friendlier, one line is still falling in your favor, and the most construction-heavy line on the page is still the hottest. Walk into your next renewal planning around the umbrella, and spend your negotiating energy on the property.
Source: Ivans, “Ivans Index Q3 2026 Results Released,” GlobeNewswire, Oct. 28, 2026. All renewal figures are Ivans Index averages for the U.S. commercial market; the Index publishes no construction-specific breakout.