Advocate Insurance Desk

Explore the Advocate app here: https://advocate.appAI-related damages are quietly being carved out of commercial general liability policies. Three of the largest carriers in the country, Chubb, Berkshire Hathaway, and Travelers, just got the green light from state regulators to start excluding AI from standard CGL coverage. ISO released two new AI exclusion endorsements that went live January 1st. More than 80% of these requests are getting approved. And it's barely been covered in the news.The number on your declaration page is not the coverage. The exclusions, the endorsements, and the new language being filed underneath you are the coverage.In this episode of the Advocate Insurance Desk, Katie and Grace break down what just happened in the commercial liability market and why it's the silent cyber playbook running a second time. Then they bring on Marek, Advocate's Head of Infrastructure and Security, to talk through what AI risk actually looks like from the inside: compounded supply chain attacks, the new Anthropic model that finds and exploits vulnerabilities on its own, why he denied a request to give an AI assistant access to Outlook, and the small annoying things every operator should be doing Monday morning.We cover:How Chubb, Berkshire Hathaway, and Travelers got regulator approval to exclude AI-related damages from standard CGL policies in less than four monthsWhy the speed of this carve-out, regulator approved and carrier deployed in a fraction of the usual time, signals how worried the market actually isThe ISO endorsements that went live January 1st and what they actually exclude: defamation from AI output, IP infringement from AI generated content, and physical damage traced back to AI errorA real supply chain attack on an NPM library that exfiltrated developer secrets without any user action, and why this is the failure mode carriers are scared ofAnthropic's new Mythos model, only released to about ten of the biggest tech companies, and what it signals about where AI risk is headingWhy Marek denied a request to give an AI assistant access to Outlook, and how he thinks about department-level AI governance for sensitive dataThe story of an AI tool that destroyed a production database including the backups, and what it tells you about agentic accessThe buyer-broker gap: most clients can't answer where AI is being used in their own operations, and most brokers aren't tracking how carrier policy language is shifting underneath themWhy broader CGL coverage isn't coming back, and what new standalone AI products entering the market actually need to look like to fill the gapThe questions every operator should be asking their broker before their next renewalIf you own, operate, broker, or underwrite anything that uses AI in any part of its tech stack, and that's almost everyone now, this episode gives you the frame for what just changed and what to ask before your next renewal.0:00 Introduction0:43 Three Carriers Just Walked Away From AI Risk1:37 The ISO Endorsements That Went Live January 1st2:22 Why This Moved So Fast2:42 What a CGL Policy Actually Covers3:04 If You Use AI, You're Exposed4:37 Bringing on Marek, Head of Infrastructure and Security6:02 The NPM Supply Chain Attack7:12 Compounded Aggregated AI Risk9:15 Anthropic's Mythos and What's Coming11:02 Open Source vs Closed Source in the AI Era11:49 What Financial Institutions Worry About in Due Diligence14:05 Why Marek Denied the AI Outlook Request15:29 The Annoying Things Operators Should Do Monday Morning16:28 When AI Destroys a Production Database17:20 Wrapping with Marek19:17 The Buyer Is Stuck and the Broker Gap22:16 Why Broader CGL Coverage Isn't Coming Back22:38 The Path Forward: Standalone AI Products24:28 Four Questions to Ask Your Broker Right Now24:50 Visibility First, Coverage Second25:40 Outro#AI #Insurance #CommercialInsurance #RiskManagement

Explore the Advocate app here: https://advocate.appAssault and battery coverage is quietly disappearing from commercial general liability policies. Carriers are excluding it entirely or sublimating it down to a fraction of the headline limit, and most operators have no idea until something goes wrong. The number on the declaration page is not the coverage. The endorsements, exclusions, defense cost treatment, and how the excess tower attaches are the coverage.In this episode of the Advocate Insurance Desk, Katie and Grace dig into one of the sneakier coverage problems hitting multifamily, hospitality, and retail right now. They walk through two real cases that show both how bad the exposure has gotten and how coverage actually fails when it gets tested. Then they pull Advocate's own placement data to show just how inconsistent assault and battery pricing has become across states, and ask whether the new standalone products entering the market actually solve the problem or just band-aid it.We cover:A $31 million settlement out of DeKalb County, Georgia at an apartment complex, and why nuclear verdicts in negligent security cases are reshaping this marketThe Cincinnati Specialty Underwriters v. Mainline Private Security case and what it reveals about how coverage fails when claims actually hitAdvocate's placement data showing Illinois operators paying nearly 4x what New York operators pay for the same assault and battery coverageThe carrier rotation happening underneath the surface in Illinois and New York, and why specialty carriers writing assault and battery inclusive policies are a different group than the ones writing the broader marketThe new standalone assault and battery product from CRC Insurance, structured to match general liability so the excess tower can actually attachWhy a $1 million standalone policy still isn't a real fix when verdicts are landing at $30 million and upThe four questions every operator should be asking at their next renewalIf you own, operate, broker, or underwrite multifamily, hospitality, or retail, this episode gives you the frame for what's actually happening to assault and battery coverage and what to ask before your next renewal.0:00 Introduction0:23 Why Assault and Battery Coverage Is Getting Sneaky1:05 Level Set: What Assault and Battery Coverage Actually Is1:53 Carriers Excluding and Sublimating Coverage2:35 The Question: Does the New Product Solve It?2:58 Case One: The DeKalb County, Georgia Settlement3:40 Nuclear Verdicts and Why Georgia Is a Tough Jurisdiction4:27 Case Two: Cincinnati Specialty Underwriters v. Mainline6:00 How the $250K Sublimit Got Eaten by Defense Costs7:00 Advocate Placement Data: New York vs Illinois8:15 Why the Pricing Gap Is So Wide9:20 The Carrier Mix Tells the Real Story10:35 Illinois: A Different Kind of Specialty Rotation11:50 The Capacity Story Behind the Numbers13:05 The Three Numbers That Should Match But Don't14:10 Enter the New CRC Standalone Product15:30 Why the Structure Matters for Excess to Attach16:45 Pushback: Pricing Sustainability and Adverse Selection18:00 Is Insurance Even the Right Fix Here?18:45 Tort Reform and the Real Drivers19:40 The Transparency Problem20:55 Four Questions to Ask at Your Next Renewal22:30 Closing: Coverage Architecture Over Headline Limits#CRE #Multifamily #Insurance #CommercialRealEstate #RiskManagement #InsuranceMarket

Explore the Advocate app here: https://advocate.appEveryone says insurance is stuck because the people inside it are stuck in their ways. The data tells a different story. The information brokers and owners need has always existed. It just hasn't been accessible. That's a structural problem, not a people problem, and it's the exact same problem the bond market had in 1980 before Michael Bloomberg built the terminal.In this episode of the Advocate Insurance Desk, Katie and Grace pick up where the Chicago Board of Trade episode left off. Standardization was part one. Part two is what you build on top of the standard. That story belongs to Bloomberg, and it's the clearest analogy for what Advocate is building in insurance today.David Dodd, product engineer at Advocate, joins the studio to walk through the app live and show exactly where the Bloomberg parallel holds up in the product.We cover:How Michael Bloomberg turned scattered bond pricing data into the single screen that reshaped Wall StreetWhy experience became a moat in the 1980s bond market and why the same dynamic runs commercial insurance todayThe $300 billion commercial P&C market and the 300 to 400% pricing dispersion sitting inside itWhy Advocate's job is actually harder than Bloomberg's, because insurance has no standard underneath it yetA live walkthrough of the Advocate pricing comps page, filtering by asset class, geography, construction type, and distance to coastThe factor model breaking down what is actually driving a price, from carrier selection to building attributesWhat happens to brokers and underwriters when data transparency hits a relationship-driven market, with the commodities and Bloomberg precedents as a guideIf you own, broker, underwrite, or lend against commercial real estate, this episode gives you the frame for why insurance pricing has stayed opaque for so long and what changes when it doesn't.0:00 Introduction1:20 Recap: The Chicago Board of Trade and Standardization2:27 Why Standardization Alone Isn't Enough3:30 The 1980s Bond Market: Data Existed, Access Didn't4:34 Experience as a Moat5:23 Enter Michael Bloomberg6:04 Building the First Terminal6:45 How the Terminal Leveled the Playing Field7:25 Why Advocate's Job Is Harder Than Bloomberg's8:02 Parallels Between Pre-Bloomberg Bonds and Insurance Today9:23 The Data Trap: No One Sees the Full Picture10:38 Price Dispersion Made Concrete12:08 David Dodd Joins the Studio13:33 Walking Through the Advocate Pricing Comps Page15:06 Live Demo: Filtering Texas and Houston16:12 AI Features: Case Creation, Reports, Gap Analysis17:10 The Factor Model: What's Actually Driving Price18:00 One Takeaway for Someone Sitting at Renewal19:05 Does Data Replace People? Lessons from Commodities and Bloomberg20:36 Closing the 200-Year Arc

Explore the Advocate app here: https://advocate.appEveryone in insurance is talking about how AI will make things more efficient. Lower costs, faster claims, smarter pricing. Katie came into this episode skeptical of that story and the data backed her up.AI is not just a tool for carriers. It is a tool for the other side too. And when plaintiffs, litigation funders, and legal tech startups get the same technology, the economics of filing a lawsuit change completely. The cost drops to almost zero. Volume goes up. And your premiums go with it.In this episode of the Advocate Insurance Desk, Katie and Grace break down the three channels through which AI is already driving commercial insurance premiums higher and show you exactly where it is showing up in the data right now.We cover:How AI is being used to find plaintiffs before they even know they have a case and what that means for claim volume across the marketWhy 98% of carriers say AI is fueling a rise in fraud, and how fabricated documentation and bot-submitted claims are getting priced into your renewalThe wave of AI-related class action filings hitting insurers directly, with 12 in the first half of 2025 alone already exceeding the full-year 2024 totalWhy liability pricing spiked 32.91% between October 2025 and April 2026 and what that inflection point actually signalsHow carrier concentration in markets like New York means rising liability costs have nowhere to go but into your premiumThe three things every operator should do right now with this information before their next renewalIf you own, operate, broker, or lend against commercial real estate, this episode gives you the data-driven context to understand why your liability costs are moving and what you can actually do about it.The efficiency story is real. But it is only half the picture. This is the other half.Chapters0:00 Introduction0:43 The Efficiency Narrative Everyone Is Pushing2:03 Market Briefing: Where the Market Stands Right Now4:54 What Is Actually Driving the Liability Spike7:03 The Plaintiffs Bar Gets AI10:17 You Do Not Have to Win a Lawsuit to Raise Premiums11:33 Channel 1: AI as a Lawsuit Enablement Tool12:40 Channel 2: AI as a Fraud Multiplier15:04 Channel 3: AI as a Liability Generator18:24 Seeing It in the Data

What does a Pacific Ocean temperature shift have to do with your insurance renewal in North Carolina? More than you'd think.Katie and Grace trace the climate pattern that's been quietly driving insurance costs across the Southeast for six years running: La Niña. From the record-breaking 2020 hurricane season that literally ran out of names, to Helene's catastrophic reset of the North Carolina package market, to the CPI floor that keeps rising even when storm activity quiets down — this episode pulls back the curtain on why waiting out a hard market is no longer a strategy.Using live data from the Advocate Market Terminal, they walk through the Named Storm Property Index with CPI overlay, the North Carolina Package Index with construction overlay, and a real renewal scenario showing exactly what's driving your number up — and where your actual leverage is.The bottom line: La Niña repriced these markets asymmetrically. El Niño won't unwind them the same way.0:00 Introduction1:00 What is La Niña1:45 How Pacific Temperatures Affect Your Insurance Renewal2:30 Wind Shear and Hurricane Formation3:15 Less Wind Shear Means More Landfall Means Higher Premiums4:00 Six Years of La Niña Dominance5:00 The 2020 Season and Reinsurance Repricing6:15 How Repricing Worked Its Way Into Renewals7:00 Helene Milton and the 2024 La Niña8:00 Named Storm Property Index + CPI Overlay9:30 Why the Floor Never Fully Resets11:00 North Carolina Package Index + Construction Overlay13:00 Helene's Impact on the NC Market15:00 Insurance Pricing Doubled While Construction Cratered16:30 Real Renewal Scenario: Small Multifamily in Raleigh NC18:00 La Niña Is Fading But Relief Isn't Coming19:00 What This Means for Owners Operators and Lenders20:00 Finding Your Leverage Before RenewalSee what your insurance market actually looks like: https://advocate.app

KKR and Blackstone turned down data center debt — not because the deals were bad, but because they couldn't get comfortable with the insurance picture. The Metis Hyperion Campus cost $30 billion and only secured $4 billion in coverage. A partner at Kirkland & Ellis said it plainly: at this scale, insurance either isn't available or is prohibitively expensive.But this isn't a data center problem. Insurance availability is quietly holding up deals across commercial real estate right now. Data centers are just the version of the story that made the front page.In equities you have Bloomberg. In debt you have spreads. In insurance you have someone's word. And when that word isn't good enough, the deal doesn't happen. That's what KKR and Blackstone walking away actually means — and it's the problem the Advocate Market Terminal was built to solve.0:00 Introduction0:33 KKR & Blackstone Turn Down Data Center Debt1:39 $30 Billion Project, $4 Billion Covered2:27 45 Minutes of Downtime = Half a Year of Revenue Gone3:12 This Isn't Just a Data Center Problem3:54 The Real Story the FT Missed4:37 What Buyers Are Up Against Without Data5:33 The Carriers Are There — Buyers Just Can't See Them6:25 Every Financial Market Has a Terminal. Insurance Has a Quote.7:12 What the Advocate Terminal Actually Gives Buyers8:30 Carrier Concentration: The Most Underpriced Risk in the Market9:34 What Transparency Looks Like in Practice11:02 Apply That to a $30 Billion Data Center11:23 The Industry Powering AI Is Being Slowed Down by Insurance Opacity13:44 What This Means for Lenders, CRE Investors & BrokersRead the Financial Times article that sparked this episode:https://www.ft.com/content/5ba0cf1a-0d81-4479-a58c-3c8b5b088682?syn-25a6b1a6=1See what your insurance market actually looks like:https://advocate.app

Explore the Advocate Market Terminal here: https://market-beta.tryadvocate.com/Duke and UConn are two of the most storied programs in college basketball. Their home states are two of the most interesting multifamily insurance markets we have ever pulled in the terminal. So for March Madness we did what any reasonable insurance podcast would do — we ran the matchup.North Carolina vs. Connecticut. Two states. Two completely different insurance markets. And the data tells a story that most investors and operators are not seeing.Connecticut is running 17% more expensive than North Carolina right now. But North Carolina is appreciating at a faster rate — closing that gap quickly. The reasons behind both of those numbers are almost perfect opposites of each other. And depending on which state you own in, the variables working against you at renewal are completely different.In this episode we cover:Why NC and CT are both getting more expensive but for completely different reasonsWhat the factor analysis in the terminal reveals is actually driving pricing in each stateWhy RCV of structure is the dominant pricing driver in NC — adding 15.1% to your base rateWhy ZIP code is the dominant pricing driver in CT — adding 9.2% to your base rateWhy Connecticut owners are paying nearly double per unit compared to North CarolinaWhat a $63,200 annual insurance expense gap looks like on a 100-unit building and what it means for your NOIWhy Connecticut is a Travelers-dominated market and what that concentration risk means for ownersWhy North Carolina has a fragmented, competitive carrier market and how brokers can capture that spreadWhat buyers in each state need to pull from the terminal before they close on a dealWhy the weather tells you the why and the factor analysis tells you the what — and why you need bothThis episode is for:Multifamily property owners and operatorsCommercial real estate investorsInsurance brokers and producersLenders and underwritersAnyone acquiring or managing multifamily assets in North Carolina, Connecticut, or any market where insurance costs are a meaningful variable in your underwriting modelKnowing your premium is one thing. Knowing what is driving it — and which state you are actually playing in — is where the leverage lives. And it is all in the terminal.#MultifamilyInsurance #CommercialRealEstate #MarchMadness #InsuranceMarket #NorthCarolina #Connecticut #AdvocateInsuranceDesk #AdvocateTechnologies

Explore the Advocate Market Terminal here: https://market-beta.tryadvocate.com/Are you overpaying for multifamily insurance in St. Louis? The data says probably yes — and we can show you exactly why.In this episode of the Advocate Insurance Desk, we pull apart the St. Louis multifamily insurance market using real, transaction-level policy data from the Market Terminal. Not market commentary. Not general trends. Actual carrier behavior, actual premiums, and actual pricing by segment.What we found surprised us. The carriers collecting the most premium are not the ones offering the best price. And the single biggest driver of pricing dispersion isn't location, building age, or claims history — it's the replacement cost value of your structure. And depending on which side of that equation you're on, it's either adding 33% to your base rate or pulling it down by 18.7%.In this episode we cover:Why multifamily insurance costs more than doubled nationally between 2019 and 2024Why liability ROL is more than double property ROL in St. Louis right nowWhy 90% of St. Louis multifamily policies include wind and hail coverageWhat replacement cost value actually is and why carriers use it as their primary pricing inputWhy the under $3M segment is a buyer's market right nowWhat happened to $10–20M asset pricing in September 2024 and why it mattersThe two-tier carrier story — who's winning on premium volume vs. who's winning on priceWhy Lloyd's re-entering the primary multifamily layer in 2025 is a big dealWhy your broker determines the universe of carriers that even see your submissionHow the factor analysis tool inside the Market Terminal shows you not just what you're paying but whyThis episode is for:Multifamily property owners and operatorsCommercial real estate investorsInsurance brokers and producersLenders and underwritersAnyone who owns or manages apartment buildings in St. Louis or any Midwest marketKnowing your price is one thing. Knowing what's driving it is another. That's where the leverage actually lives.The Market Terminal gives you that visibility. This episode shows you what it looks like in practice.

Explore the Advocate Market Terminal here:https://market-beta.tryadvocate.com/What is actually driving liability insurance pricing in the nursing home industry?In this episode of the Advocate Insurance Desk, we analyze the Illinois assisted living and nursing home liability insurance market using real transaction-level policy data from Advocate’s Market Terminal.Rather than relying on market surveys or anecdotal commentary, we examine how liability pricing is behaving across the state by analyzing actual policies, carriers, brokers, and rate on line trends.Illinois has become one of the most challenging liability environments for senior care operators in the United States. Litigation pressure, regulatory scrutiny, and evolving underwriting appetite have all combined to reshape the insurance market for this sector.Using the Advocate platform, we break down how those forces are translating into real insurance pricing outcomes.In this episode, we cover:• Why Illinois has become one of the most difficult liability environments for nursing home operators• The litigation dynamics driving claims severity in long-term care• How liability ROLs vary across assisted living and skilled nursing facilities• Which carriers are still writing liability coverage in Illinois• The difference between carriers dominating premium volume and those competing on price• How broker strategy influences which underwriters even see a submission• Why some facilities are seeing dramatically different renewal outcomes• The structural pressures pushing liability pricing upward across the sector• How regulatory dynamics influence underwriting appetite• What the data shows about the current direction of liability markets in senior careThis episode is for:Assisted living and nursing home operatorsInsurance brokers placing senior care liabilityCarriers and underwriters evaluating healthcare risksHealthcare investors and private equity sponsorsLenders financing senior housing propertiesRisk managers operating in long-term careSenior care liability insurance is not moving randomly. It is responding to structural changes in litigation risk, underwriting capacity, and regulatory pressure. Watch to understand how those forces are showing up in real insurance pricing across the Illinois nursing home market.

Explore the Advocate Market Terminal here:⁠https://market-beta.tryadvocate.com/Why is commercial insurance still operating without a reference price?In this episode of the Advocate Insurance Desk, we step outside of modern insurance markets and go back to the 1800s commodities market to explain why standardization changes everything.Before the Chicago Board of Trade introduced formal grain grades, wheat markets were opaque, fragmented, and ruled by extreme price dispersion. The same product could trade at dramatically different prices simply because there was no common language to classify it.Commercial insurance looks similar today.Roughly 30 million transactions occur each year. Each policy is treated as a one-off deal. There is no universal taxonomy. No benchmark. No transparent pricing layer.In this episode, we cover:• How pre-standardization commodity markets actually worked• What arbitrage looks like in opaque markets• Why pricing dispersion of 300 to 400 percent exists in insurance• The absence of a common data standard in commercial insurance• What “standardization” actually means at the policy level• Exposure, coverage, and price as structured data sets• How peer groups are formed inside the Market Terminal• Why measurable data is the foundation for benchmarking• What happened to commodities once transparency was introduced• Why better data grows markets instead of shrinking them• Where insurance sits in the historical market evolution arcThis episode is for:Commercial real estate ownersInsurance brokersCarriers and underwritersRisk managersLendersAnyone operating inside commercial insurance marketsStandardization comes first. Transparency follows. Intelligence layers are built on top.Insurance has not fully built that foundation yet. Watch to understand why that matters and what happens when markets finally standardize.

Explore the Advocate Market Terminal here:https://market-beta.tryadvocate.com/What actually happens to insurance pricing after a catastrophic event?In this episode of the Advocate Insurance Desk, we break down the full financial domino effect of the January 7, 2025 Los Angeles wildfires and measure how the shock moved through capital markets, construction costs, reinsurance, underwriting, and ultimately into commercial property insurance pricing.Using Advocate’s Market Terminal, we walk through the complete catastrophe flow-through sequence and show how California property rates increased by as much as 85 percent within ten months of the event.Insurance is a lagging industry. Pricing is the last variable to move. But when it does, the impact can be structural.In this episode, we cover:• The January 7 wildfire catalyst event• Why Treasury yields moved within 7 days• How bond markets price catastrophe risk in real time• The role of insurance carrier float and fixed income portfolios• Why construction input costs such as steel and concrete rise 3 to 6 months post event• The hidden pressure building under the surface of insurance markets• When reinsurance treaties reset and why that matters• The three triggers that cause insurance rates to finally move• Why pricing typically spikes 8 to 18 months after a catastrophe• Statewide California Property Index repricing• Los Angeles multifamily pricing comps• An 85 percent statewide rate increase measured through the platform• 50 day moving average signals and structural repricing• How markets eventually stabilize into a new equilibriumThis episode is for:Commercial real estate ownersInsurance brokersCarriers and underwritersLenders and loan servicersRisk managersAnyone operating in commercial property insurance marketsInsurance pricing does not react in headlines. It reacts in sequence.Watch to understand the full catastrophe flow-through from wildfire to yield curve to insurance renewal.

Is insurance in Texas actually getting cheaper as the state grows — or is the story more complicated?In this episode of the Advocate Insurance Desk, Katie Dowson and Grace Schmidt break down what Texas multifamily insurance pricing really looks like using real market data — not anecdotes.We start at the state level, analyzing the Texas Property and Liability Indices, and then zoom into Houston and Dallas–Fort Worth to show where pricing actually diverges. From construction cost inputs and replacement cost values to environmental exposure and carrier selectivity, this episode explains why two similar buildings in the same state can see very different outcomes at renewal.Key themes in this episode:• Texas population growth and exposure concentration• Property volatility vs. liability stabilization• The relationship between construction inputs and rate-on-line• Why Houston and Dallas price differently• How to use metro-level peer comps to benchmark your renewal• Why statewide averages are directional signals, not pricing answersIf you are an owner, operator, lender, or broker trying to understand whether your renewal “makes sense,” this episode walks through the exact framework you should be using.Statewide data tells you direction.Metro and peer-level data tell you reality.To explore the Advocate Market Terminal and benchmark your own assets, visit the link in the description or reach out to our team.Stream this episode and more on YouTube and Spotify.

In our first episode of the Advocate Insurance Desk, hosts Katie Dowson and Grace Schmidt take a data-driven look at what is actually happening in the New York City insurance market.Using real multifamily insurance pricing data from Advocate’s market terminal, Katie and Grace break down how rate-on-line and premium trends are shifting across NYC and how recent regulatory action and ongoing litigation are shaping the market in real time. They move beyond anecdotes to explain why pricing pressure persists, how regulation is influencing carrier behavior, and what this means for owners, lenders, and operators navigating renewals in one of the most complex insurance environments in the country.This episode sets the foundation for the series by replacing assumptions with visibility, context, and facts so the industry can better understand how insurance pricing actually works, starting with New York City. Subscribe for data-backed insurance market insights and explore the Advocate Market Terminal by joining at market-beta.tryadvocate.com or emailing [email protected].