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Survey Report

Insurance Marketplace Realities 2025 Spring Update – Employment Practices Liability

May 2, 2025

The EPL market continues to be competitive with markets eager to write new business and maintain their renewals.
Rate predictions: Employment Practices Liability (EPL)
  Trend Range
Domestic and Bermuda markets Neutral increase (Arrows pointing top) Flat to +5%

Key takeaway

The EPL market continues to be competitive with markets eager to write new business and maintain their renewals. However, we do expect rate adjustments may be made in more problematic jurisdictions and industries.

  • Rates: While we do expect to see mostly flat renewals, there will be modest rate increases in high-risk jurisdictions and industries. Outside of those high-risk jurisdictions and industries and assuming no change in risk profile and no losses, rate increases are more likely to be close to or at flat. California continues to be the most problematic jurisdiction for insurers. New Jersey, New York, Illinois and Florida remain challenging as well.
  • Retentions: While many retentions have stabilized, loss history and location of employees may still lead to increases in retentions. Markets continue to seek separate retentions for class actions, especially in California. Moreover, some domestic markets have also sought separate retentions for high-risk states (e.g., California, Illinois, New York and New Jersey) and sometimes even county-specific retentions. In many instances, there are separate (higher) retentions for highly compensated employees in certain industries.
  • Limits: Both Bermuda and domestic markets are managing their capacity on any given risk. Domestically, markets are providing between $5 million and $10 million. In Bermuda, markets are cutting back to $15 million ($10 million in some instances).
  • Excess: EPL markets are generally following primary increases in addition to looking to adjust increased limit factors (ILFs) for certain risks.
  • Capacity: Overall capacity in the EPL market is stable.
  • Underwriting: Expect some questions regarding how the company is approaching DEI programs and compliance with the new executive orders, how the company is managing EPL exposure in the new political environment, use of AI in employment decision and compliance with state pay transparency laws. Many markets have separate questionnaires for biometrics, sexual harassment and pay equity and some markets have started to utilize separate questionnaires for compliance with state pay transparency laws.
  • Coverage: Coverage remains intact; markets continue to add privacy/biometrics exclusions, and in some cases, broaden existing exclusions. Small sublimits for defense cost coverage are available from certain insurers upon satisfactory completion of the previously mentioned biometric questionnaires.
  • The President has issued several executive orders addressing DEI within federal agencies and the private sector. The executive orders are aimed at rooting out illegal DEI and discrimination. There are ongoing legal challenges to the subject orders.
  • The EEOC has issued two technical assistance documents – one is done jointly with the Department of Justice and is titled, “What To Do If You Experience Discrimination Related to DEI at Work” and the second is issued solely by the EEOC and is titled, “What You Should Know About DEI-Related Discrimination at Work.”
  • As a result of the current environment, we anticipate there will be an increase in discrimination claims. The EEOC has also started to investigate DEI-related programs and initiatives at major law firms.
  • The U.S. Supreme Court heard argument in the Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services case and will decide what a majority-group plaintiff must prove in a discrimination case.
  • Companies should examine their DEI policies and initiatives with counsel to ensure they comply with all laws and regulations.
  • The current administration is focused on the development and use of AI rather than regulating it. As such, guidance previously issued by the EEOC and DOL has been removed from their websites. We don’t expect to see any federal regulation restricting the use of AI in the employment context.
  • As a result, we’ll likely continue to see regulations at the state level, creating a patchwork of laws. There are already regulations in place in NYC, Colorado, California and Illinois and bills proposed in other states.
  • With 14 states and eight municipalities passing pay transparency laws, litigation has been on the rise.
  • The claims have been most prevalent in Washington, but there has been litigation as to who is considered a “job applicant.” The Washington Supreme Court will address this question in Branson, et al. v. Washington Fine Wines & Spirits, LLC.
  • Given the increased claims activity, some markets have separate questionnaires regarding compliance with state pay transparency laws.

Download the full EPL report below.

Download

TitleFile TypeFile Size
Insurance Marketplace Realities 2025 Spring UpdatePDF12.3 MB

Disclaimer

WTW hopes you found the general information provided here informative and helpful. The information contained herein is not intended to constitute legal or other professional advice and should not be relied upon in lieu of consultation with your own legal advisors. In the event you would like more information regarding your insurance coverage, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. In North America, WTW offers insurance products through licensed entities, including Willis Towers Watson Northeast, Inc. (in the United States) and Willis Canada Inc. (in Canada).

Contact

Talene M. Carter, National Employment Practices Liability Product Leader, FINEX North America
Talene M. Carter
National Employment Practices Liability Product Leader, FINEX North America
Email+1 212 915 8721
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