Other Liability (Occurrence) Line Facing Challenges, Says S&P Global

The U.S. insurance industry reported $7.30 billion in one-year adverse development within the other liability (occurrence) business line in 2025. It marked the largest adverse development of any reported business line for the year, according to an analysis by S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Loss trends are surpassing pricing assumptions, which indicates that industry models are not keeping pace with evolving legal and social changes. Nearly $3 billion of reserve strengthening occurred in accident years 2022 and 2023. In 2022 alone, there was $1.45 billion in adverse development. 

Other liability (occurrence) serves as a long-tail stress test for the industry, concentrating the legal system's loss amplifiers. 

“Even small assumption changes can lead to significant reserve movements, with tort reform legislation having mixed impacts across different states,” according to the report.