The insurance industry is facing a convergence of complexity that’s testing the limits of traditional dispute resolution. For Rebekah Ratliff (pictured), former commercial claims specialist turned mediator and arbitrator, the pace of change since COVID has revealed gaps in policy wording, triggered litigation risk, and underscored the need for multidisciplinary collaboration across the sector.
“Post-COVID, new risks, and there are lots of new risks, have emerged because gaps were uncovered,” said Ratliff, ahead of the upcoming JAMS event Insurance Disputes: Addressing Emerging Risks and Culture Climate Change in London. “What has been discovered is policy wording gaps. So litigation risk is rising because of that, basically contracts that are not well written.”
Contractual ambiguity isn’t the only stressor. Ratliff points to an increase in employment and professional indemnity claims, often linked to non-financial misconduct. These disputes are not just a function of bad behaviour but a symptom of rising instability across sectors and markets. “People feel more than ever that risk is less predictable than it was before,” she said. “COVID was a big catalyst for the change.”
Cybersecurity and ESG-related claims are also adding pressure, particularly as data privacy rules tighten and expectations around governance rise. Deepfakes, AI-generated fraud, and synthetic media are challenging insurers’ ability to assess what is even real. “AI is creating new dispute fronts because of the deep fakes,” Ratliff said. “We can't rely on our eyes to determine what's even real.”
These dynamics are shifting the traditional structure of claims management. The need to anticipate, not just respond to, exposure is driving calls for legal, underwriting, claims and broking teams to work together far earlier. “A new approach might be a multidisciplinary approach,” she said, adding that cross-functional collaboration can reduce both exposure and public scepticism of insurers.
For brokers, that means taking a more active role in early risk alignment, flagging potential friction points between client expectations and carrier interpretation, especially in newer or evolving coverage areas. “Anticipate potential friction points like coverage, interpretation, pricing disputes, and address them early through pre-claim alignment meetings or joint reviews of complex accounts,” she said.
While litigation remains a staple of commercial disputes, Ratliff sees a broader industry transition underway, one that leans on internal alignment, agility, and proactive management. “The insurance sector is moving from reactive litigation to resilient dispute management,” she said, “where human insight, organisational agility, and geopolitical awareness converge.”
This means breaking down silos between departments and creating internal processes that can address issues early, before they escalate. Pre-claim reviews, claims data analysis, and policy intent clarification are already standard practice in some parts of the US, where claims and underwriting frequently coordinate on ambiguous losses. Ratliff is eager to learn how these practices compare in the UK market.
“Claims data can inform underwriting decisions,” she said. “And underwriting insights can help claims teams understand policy intent. That kind of cross-functional exchange is essential.”
Despite mediation’s growing popularity, Ratliff believes misconceptions persist about when and how it should be used. Many professionals still treat it as a post-litigation option rather than a strategic tool to resolve disputes early.
“We’re finding that early mediation is very effective when it’s obvious the damages will only get worse and raise exposure,” she said. “Early resolution is becoming a thing.”
She also flagged a persistent lack of diversity in the selection of mediators and arbitrators. “Selectors typically use the same mediators or arbitrators over and over,” she said. “But giving a new ADR professional with subject matter knowledge an opportunity can provide parties with a more productive mediation experience.”
Diversity in mediation, she argued, isn’t just about fairness. “Research has been done and the data shows that companies are more profitable when they embrace people with diverse classifications,” she said. “Diversity in thought and background leads to better outcomes.”
As she prepares to visit the Lloyd’s Lab and meet with UK insurance leaders, Ratliff says the focus must be on readiness. “AI is not going to replace people. People who use AI are going to replace people who don’t,” she said. “Our industry is conservative, but it will be very important to be able to pivot.”
For insurers, brokers, and underwriters, the message is to embrace early collaboration, prioritise clarity, and incorporate ADR into strategic planning, not as a last resort, but as a core component of dispute readiness. The insurance industry, Ratliff said, remains “a recession-proof staple that supports everything that moves”, but it must move faster to stay ahead of change.
