What commercial brokers think about their carriers

Nearly two-thirds (64%) of respondents to Canadian Underwriter’s 2026 National Broker Survey say their brokerages provide services to medium-size commercial clients.

And, of those, 71% say the claims submission processes of the carriers they work with meet or exceed expectations. That number is down six percentage points from 77% in 2025 and well below the 84% of respondents saying carrier claims processes met or beat expectations in 2024.

In this year’s survey, women (78%) are slightly happier with carrier claims handling than men (70%), as are those mid-career brokers with between 16 and 30 years in the business (76%) and those at large firms with 100 or more employees (79%).

Up slightly from last year, 58% of 2026 respondents say they’re happy with carriers’ claim settlements. While ahead of 56% expressing satisfaction last year, it’s an eight-point drop from 66% in 2024’s survey. Women are far less happy with how carriers manage claim settlement (56%) than men (65%). Those at large firms (69%) and at small firms with 20 or fewer employees (68%) have the most positive views of the way their carriers settle claims.

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Collaboration with insurance partners, which rated in the low-60s two years ago, falls to 49% in 2026. For this metric, men (48%) are significantly less happy than women (58%), as are those at smaller firms (47%) and those at mid-sized companies (46%) with between 20 and 99 employees. Veterans with 31 or more years in the business, at 42%, are the least satisfied group among the age and firm-size breakouts.

Slipping modestly this year, broker satisfaction with the quality of communication and transparency throughout the claims process comes in at 47% in 2026, down from 48% last year and 56% in 2024.

Men responding to the survey had a far lower opinion of the process (38%) than women (63%), as did those at mid-sized firms (38%), followed by small firms (53%) and large firms (57%). Likewise, newer brokers (37%) with 16 or fewer years in the business are least satisfied with claims communication and transparency, followed by those at mid-career (55%) and veterans (59%).

Broker satisfaction (dissatisfaction, really) with the speed at which claims are paid held steady at 46% in 2026 from the prior year. The metric had been as high as 60% in 2024. Women respondents (51%) are somewhat happier than men (46%), as are newer brokers (54%) and those at small firms (53%) and large firms (52%). Veteran brokers have the lowest satisfaction rate (42%), along with those at mid-sized firms (41%).

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Also tracking well below 50% is broker satisfaction with the speed and efficiency of the claims process. At 41% this year, it’s eight percentage points below 2025 and three percentage points below 2024.

Men responding to the survey are far less satisfied (38%) than women respondents (49%), as are those at mid-sized firms (23%) and mid-career brokers (38%).

Canadian Underwriter’s 2026 National Broker Survey heard from 169 brokers, with 32 identifying as brokerage owners or principals. The survey was conducted in February 2026, with support from Sovereign Insurance.

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Phil Porado

Phil, an award-winning journalist with over 30 years of experience in financial topics, has been managing editor of Canadian Underwriter for more than three years.