Goldberg Segalla partner and co-chair of the firm’s nationwide Global Insurance Services practice group, David L. Brown, was quoted extensively in an article published by Law360 that explores the persistent challenges facing the commercial auto insurance sector.

The article, “Growing Underwriting Losses No Surprise To Insurance Pros,” by Jennifer Mandato, reacts to a report by credit rating agency AM Best, which shows the commercial auto insurance industry has posted an underwriting loss for the 14th consecutive year, accumulating more than $10 billion in net underwriting losses over the past two years.

While there are numerous possible explanations, such as unresolved claims, social inflation, and rising costs associated with vehicle repairs, the bottom line is that industry leaders are not surprised by the report. Although carriers may have to proceed with rate increases, David says regular rate increases are not the sole resolution.

“I don’t think the problem is going to be solved from the insurance industry’s perspective by simply raising rates because the market is not going to understand that,” he says. “You’re always going to have some carriers who are going to believe they can hold the lines on rates and gain market share and then manage claims to make it all profitable.”

Rather, Brown says carriers must figure out alternative ways to make this line of business profitable or at least provide an ability to achieve profitability on the overall commercial exposure across multiple lines of business. Brown contends that shoring up the legal process is one such path, arguing that carriers must invest more in defending cases and trying to drive down indemnity payments. He says claims are remaining open for longer, in part because of a backlog in the court system.

“A lot of claims are now coming up for trial or coming up for summary [judgment] that have been languishing in the system for a bit.”

Other areas of concern include third-party litigation funding and inflated verdicts, which are contributing to longer claim durations and higher settlement demands.

David agrees that there is a question as to whether the plaintiff bar’s mindset is that “the longer we hold out, the more the defense side will come in and eventually pay to settle the claim.”

As for mediation, he says the old mindset used to be that all parties looked at the mediation date as the day in which they would try to settle the case. Now, the mediation date is viewed more as “a first step in the process.”

“The theory is that as you get closer and closer to trial, the defendants are going to have more and more pressure to come in and make a substantial payment to settle the case,” he says.

The report did relay that the auto physical damage component of this insurance line has now been profitable for six of the past seven years and saw its largest profit in 2024. David notes the auto physical damage coverage is easier for carriers to price because it is more predictable than auto liability coverage.

“You know what the vehicles are, you know what the pricing is, you can run models about the number of accidents and the likelihood of accidents,” he says.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE (SUBSCRIPTION REQUIRED): “Growing Underwriting Losses No Surprise To Insurance Pros,” Law360, September 25, 2025

MORE ABOUT GOLDBERG SEGALLA’S David L. Brown:

Co-chair of the Global Insurance Services practice group, David represents insurers and insurance brokers in complex disputes throughout the country in matters involving environmental claims, construction defect claims, broker/agent issues, and directors’ and officers’ liability coverage. He has also handled very large and complex property coverage matters involving fires and other catastrophic losses, as well as product liability claims for clients in multiple industries. David is regularly called upon to represent insurers and brokers with respect to their most sensitive matters involving their business practices and their institutional interests. He is also a certified mediator and maintains an active mediation practice.

In addition to being nationally recognized as an insurance expert, David has been consistently recognized by his peers and by judges as a preeminent trial and appellate lawyer. David has tried more than 75 cases to verdict and has been lead counsel in over 50 appeals to state and federal appellate courts. Highly regarded among his colleagues, he is rated AV Preeminent—the highest possible rating—by Martindale-Hubbell.