How is the sexual abuse and molestation insurance market changing?

The 2026 report expands the benchmark by bringing together perspectives from across the SML insurance process, providing a broader view of how current market conditions are being experienced by those providing, placing, and purchasing coverage.

• 89% observed higher SML Rates

• 81% observed lower available limits.

• 54% observed fewer carrier options for their clients.

Organizations reported similar experiences. More than half of responding insured organizations reported experiencing fewer coverage options, lower limits, fewer carriers willing to quote, and less willingness to negotiate when seeking SML coverage.

The result is a purchasing process that brokers describe as more rigorous and less predictable—requiring organizations to start earlier, provide more documentation, and more clearly demonstrate their risk controls. 

What SML insurance limits are carriers offering?

In 2026, 60% of responding carriers reported typical SML limits below $5 million. No responding carrier reported offering typical limits above $10 million, compared with 12% in Praesidium's 2024 survey.

Looking ahead, carrier expectations remain cautious:

• 67% anticipate decreasing SML limits over the next three years

• Only 5% anticipate increasing limits

Carrier comments indicate that available limits may increasingly depend on the individual risk, including industry, venue, population served, loss experience, and the organization's risk controls.

For brokers and insured organizations, evaluating SML coverage therefore increasingly requires looking beyond whether coverage exists to how much coverage is available, where it sits in the insurance program, and what may erode or restrict those limits.

Are defense costs reducing available SML insurance limits?

Praesidium's benchmarking data show a consistent increase in carriers reporting that defense costs are included within SML limits.

• In 2022, 33% of responding carriers said defense costs were included within the limits of all SML policies.

• In 2024, that increased to 50%

• In 2026, it reached 66%

When defense costs are paid within the policy's liability limit, expenses associated with investigating and defending a claim may reduce the amount of the limit remaining for other covered loss.

For organizations and their insurance advisors, understanding whether defense costs sit inside or outside SML limits is therefore an important part of evaluating the actual protection provided by a policy, not simply the stated limit.

What should carriers and brokers know about SML risk in 2026?

Organizations are navigating a more technical purchasing process while carriers seek better evidence of risk quality. Brokers increasingly sit between those two realities—helping clients understand underwriting expectations and helping insurers understand the client's prevention story.

Praesidium's research suggests several areas of opportunity:

• Start earlier. SML placement is increasingly difficult to treat as a routine renewal exercise.

• Look beyond the application. Prevention maturity may be reflected in implementation, leadership involvement, incident response, corrective action, risk assessment, and ongoing measurement.

• Help insureds understand coverage structure. Limits, sublimits, defense costs, occurrence versus claims-made coverage, excess availability, exclusions, and reporting requirements can materially change the protection an organization actually has.

• Connect clients with prevention resources. Carriers and brokers already offer risk assessment, training, loss control, sample policies, consulting, crisis response, and other value-added resources, but Praesidium's findings indicate that utilization remains uneven.