Changing trends in London Market claims

An analysis of the five key trends shaping London market claims today.

Over the past three years, the presentations, discussions and survey responses at London Market Claims have shown a clear shift in the claims agenda.

In 2023, the conversation was still heavily focused on digitisation, automation and improving the mechanics of claims handling. By 2024, the focus had moved towards AI, data, Blueprint Two, process optimisation and balancing technology with claims talent. In 2025, the tone changed again. The market was still interested in technology, but the questions became sharper: how do we implement AI, deliver ROI, fix data quality challenges, improve client outcomes and avoid hollow transformation?

Five changes stand out.

1. AI has moved from curiosity to accountability

In 2023, AI sat within a broader conversation about automation and digitisation. By 2024, attendees were asking: “How is it being used now?”, “Is it working?” and “How to realise business value from AI use cases and automation?”

By 2025, the issue had become more practical and more cautious. Respondents wanted to know where AI can and cannot be applied, how governance should work and whether AI might dilute the skills base of claims professionals.

One survey comment captured the concern neatly:

“What are the hidden dangers of using AI - have we thought about all of the future consequences?”

The data session reinforced the point. The market is no longer impressed by AI as a label. It wants disciplined use cases, human oversight and measurable outcomes. As one speaker put it:

“You can automate a process, but if the process was bad to begin with, you’re automating a bad process.”

That is a significant change. The question is no longer whether claims organisations should explore AI. It is where AI creates value, where it creates risk and who remains accountable for the outcome.

2. Data has become a strategic claims issue

Data has been a recurring theme throughout the survey responses and conference agenda sessions, but its meaning has changed.

In 2023, the challenge was often framed around centralising data capture and using claims information more effectively. In 2024, respondents were asking how to use claims data to improve efficiency, management information and underwriting decision-making.

By 2025, the discussion had become much more specific around standardised data, third-party data, reserving accuracy, London market data provision and claims analytics for client conversations.

Claims data is not just an operational by-product. It is now central to underwriting, portfolio management, risk selection and client service.

But the barriers remain familiar: unstructured information, inconsistent capture, legacy systems and fragmented processes. As one speaker said: “Insurance is awash with data.” The problem is that much of it is “unstructured”, “locked away in silos” and sitting in platforms that do not support modern workflows.

The opportunity is equally clear. In one example discussed during the conference, AI-enabled extraction produced significantly more usable claims records and more data points per record. The lesson is not that AI solves data quality. It is that better tools can unlock value that already exists but is trapped in documents, loss runs, claims messages and workarounds.

3. Client expectations now go beyond speed

Speed still matters. In the 2025 survey, respondents continued to highlight slow processes, outdated technology, signings and exceptions where ECF cannot be used.

But the more interesting trend is that speed is no longer enough. The 2025 survey showed strong agreement that transparent and fair claims handling is more important than settlement speed. One respondent summed up the challenge as balancing “claim inflation and customer expectations”, with clients still expecting “speed, clarity, and empathy.”

That combination matters. Claims leaders are under pressure to reduce friction and improve response times, but not by stripping out judgement. Automation may help triage, route, summarise and validate, but complex claims still require context, communication and trust.

This is where the London market has a particular challenge. Its strength lies in specialist expertise and complex risk. Its weakness is that the experience can still feel slow, opaque and inconsistent. The future claims journey cannot simply be faster. It has to be clearer.

4. Delegated authority and bordereaux have moved up the agenda

Delegated claims has become one of the clearest pain points in the survey results.

In 2024, respondents focused on DA oversight, outsourcing risk and better management information. In 2025, the language became more urgent. Respondents called for bordereaux automation, standardisation and a more unified market approach.

One comment asked whether it was time to “collaborate across the market” to develop a single streamlined solution. Another highlighted the cost of DA oversight and asked how the market gets better at factoring this into pricing.

This is not just an administrative issue. Delegated claims sits at the intersection of client outcomes, operational efficiency, data quality, governance, audit and underwriting performance. Poor bordereaux processes create cost, delay and uncertainty. Better data flows create faster settlement, stronger oversight and better portfolio insight.

The strategic question is no longer simply how to process bordereaux faster. It is how to make delegated claims data usable, trusted and timely enough to support better decisions.

5. The talent conversation has changed

The early conversation was about attracting people into claims and managing automation without losing the human touch. That has not gone away.

But the 2025 discussion is more sophisticated. The market now needs claims professionals who understand data, can challenge AI outputs, can interpret dashboards and can work across underwriting, operations, technology and analytics.

One roundtable observation from the conference was blunt: “Data’s often an afterthought.” Claims handlers and lawyers are judged on outcomes, not necessarily on the quality of the data they capture. That is starting to change. Some organisations are looking at data audits, objectives and performance measures to make data quality part of the role.

This may be one of the biggest shifts of all. The future claims professional is not being replaced by technology. But the role is changing. Technical expertise will still matter, especially in complex specialty claims. The difference is that expertise will increasingly need to be supported by data literacy, digital confidence and the ability to provide human oversight of automated processes.

Taken together, the conference sessions and survey results show a market moving from ambition to execution.

Claims leaders are no longer asking whether technology, data and AI will change the function. They are asking how to make those investments work in a market defined by complexity, relationships and specialist judgement.

The next phase of claims transformation will not be won by the organisations with the most technology. It will be won by those that can connect data, process, talent and client service into a claims model that is faster, more transparent and commercially valuable.

I look forward to continuing the conversations at London Market Claims on 6th Oct in London.