The property insurance landscape is shifting rapidly. Catastrophic weather is hitting harder and more often, and carriers are responding by shrinking appetites, increasing deductibles, and pulling back capacity.
In the first half of 2025 alone, insured catastrophe losses in the U.S. surpassed $100 billion. That volatility is exactly why agents are turning to wholesale insurance brokers. Specialized property insurance solutions expand your reach, unlock creative program structures, and solve problems standard carriers won’t touch.
Why Do Standard Property Markets Fall Short?
Standard markets were built for predictable risks. Today’s property landscape is anything but. CAT losses are soaring, carriers are exiting wildfire and hurricane-exposed states, and “bread and butter” classes like habitational or light industrial are now hitting underwriting roadblocks. Even a single late-stage claim or an unexpected exposure can push a risk outside of admitted market appetites.
For agents, that means more accounts slipping through the cracks, unless you have a strong wholesale partner who can fill those gaps and keep deals moving.
How Specialized Wholesalers Expand What’s Possible
Partnering with a wholesale broker for property insurance isn’t just for hard-to-place risks. It can also open up access to markets, secure tailored coverage, and deliver solutions that keep your clients protected. Specialty wholesalers bring:
- Broader market access for high-value, complex, or catastrophe-exposed accounts.
- Custom structures like shared and layered programs, parametric insurance, and deductible buybacks.
- Technical capabilities like catastrophe modeling to right-size limits and manage costs.
The result? Coverage that’s not only available but optimized for your client’s unique risk profile.
Top 10 Property Scenarios That Call for a Specialty Wholesaler
1. CAT-Exposed Properties
When properties are in the path of hurricanes, floods, convective storms, or wildfires, standard carriers often pull back or impose heavy coverage restrictions. Specialty wholesalers can structure layered programs, carve out CAT-specific coverage, and even implement parametric solutions that pay quickly after a triggering event. As Bruce Norris, EVP of Jencap’s National Property Practice, explains, “We cannot forecast the next natural disaster, but we can understand the implications of these risks and be prepared to manage them. Over-purchasing CAT cover can be expensive; under-purchasing can be even more expensive.”
That balance is critical as the U.S. continues to face record-breaking weather events. The billions in insured losses from Hurricane Beryl and the surge of billion-dollar convective storms across the Midwest demonstrate just how volatile these risks have become — and why working with a specialty wholesaler can make all the difference.
2. Earthquake and DIC Risks
Earthquake risk isn’t limited to the West Coast. In 2025, a magnitude 4.8 earthquake in New Jersey reminded the industry that seismic activity can strike anywhere, often where coverage isn’t in place. Yet many property owners still underestimate their exposure or rely on sub-limited endorsements that don’t fully address the peril. Specialty wholesalers can bridge those gaps by providing standalone earthquake and difference-in-conditions (DIC) coverage, ensuring proper protection in expected and unexpected shake zones.
3. High-Value, Shared, and Layered Programs
When total insured values exceed a single carrier’s capacity, specialty wholesalers step in to build multi-carrier towers, negotiate terms across layers, and deliver seamless protection. That structure has become increasingly common for large commercial schedules as capacity tightens across the property market.
4. Accounts Facing Non-Renewal or Claims-Driven Challenges
A single loss near the renewal date can derail coverage. Mike Patterson, VP and Property Broker at Jencap, provides a real-time example of a risk he’s helping with: “The client suffered a loss a month before renewal, and the incumbent carrier chose not to renew. This is when Jencap thrives. We have several markets that can provide new coverage while the particulars of a claim are sorted out, and we placed coverage for this client without any issues.” This situation is becoming more common, as seen in the wave of non-renewals in California’s property market following catastrophic wildfire seasons.
5. Wildfire-Exposed Risks
Jencap’s wildfire strategy, developed and led by Louis Reynaud, VP and Property Broker, is built on the premise that wildfire exposure is both measurable and manageable when guided by the right data. The approach combines high-resolution wildfire mapping, defensible space analysis, and mitigation modeling, supported by one of the most extensive networks of wildfire experts in the insurance industry.
This collaboration helps underwriters distinguish perceived risk from actual exposure and price coverage with greater confidence. The results prove the model’s strength: in one recent placement, a California winery initially deemed uninsurable secured full coverage at roughly half the expiring premium. When a wildfire struck weeks later, the mitigation strategy performed exactly as designed, containing the fire and preventing any property loss.
6. Consolidating Multiple Policies for an Insured
As property portfolios grow, it’s common for clients to end up with scattered policies, mismatched renewal dates, and inconsistent coverage terms. Specialty wholesalers can streamline these accounts by placing all assets under a coordinated property program — reducing administrative burden, aligning renewal cycles, and driving meaningful savings.
Zac Bryant, AVP and Property Broker at Jencap, recently helped a client in Tier 1 and Tier 2 coastal areas with roughly $800 million in total assets that had been acquiring properties over several years. “Each asset had its own policy with different effective dates and carriers,” he explains. “We helped restructure the placement so all assets were covered under one program with a unified renewal date, simplifying management for both the client and the retail broker and delivering substantial cost efficiencies.”
7. Parametric Solutions
Traditional property coverage can take months to pay out, especially when claims require lengthy loss adjustments. Parametric insurance changes that by paying automatically when a pre-agreed trigger, such as wind speed, quake magnitude, or rainfall total, is met. It’s not tied to physical damage, but to measurable event data, providing rapid liquidity exactly when it’s needed most. By pairing parametric coverage with standard property policies, you can close the gap for clients between event and recovery.
8. Deductible Buybacks
High catastrophe deductibles can leave clients exposed to major out-of-pocket costs. Specialty wholesalers can solve that with deductible buyback coverage — a supplemental policy that reimburses the insured for all or part of their deductible after a qualifying event. For property owners with large schedules or coastal exposure, this coverage can mean the difference between a quick recovery and a long financial setback.
These buybacks have become especially valuable as carriers increase percentage-based CAT deductibles, putting more risk back on the insured. In some cases, wholesalers can even arrange “per occurrence plus aggregate” deductibles that are fronted at no cost by licensed carriers to satisfy lender requirements and reduce the client’s guaranteed cost on paper. It’s a sophisticated, but powerful way to protect cash flow while keeping programs financially efficient.
9. Market Shifts and Underwriter Relationships
Property underwriting is a moving target and right now, it’s moving fast. Underwriters are shifting between carriers, new markets are entering the space, and appetites are changing monthly. Specialty wholesalers stay ahead of those shifts by knowing not only which markets are writing business, but who is making the decisions.
Bryant explains that having personal relationships with underwriters is crucial in this environment. “There’s a lot of activity in the market — new carriers entering, others pulling back,” he says. “We stay in close contact with underwriters and know how to work with certain individuals, what their appetite is, and how it’s evolving.”
Norris adds that the team’s collective insight keeps deals moving smoothly, even when changes occur mid-placement. “When an underwriter shifts to a new carrier, personalities and preferences change, too,” he says. “Our team compares notes and shares past experiences so we can adjust right away and manage the ‘new’ personality effectively.”
10. Construction and Renovation Projects
Frame construction, joisted masonry, and large renovation projects often exceed standard market appetite due to heightened fire and structural risks. Extensions on these projects can also be challenging, especially when a loss has occurred or project values have increased. Specialty wholesalers place builders’ risk and course-of-construction policies tailored to these exposures, keeping projects on track and lenders satisfied.
Checklist: When to Call a Wholesale Insurance Broker
- To cover CAT sublimits or high deductibles your client can’t absorb
- To place earthquake or DIC coverage excluded by standard markets
- To structure high-TIV accounts requiring shared or layered programs
- To replace coverage after a late-stage loss or non-renewal
- To insure construction-phase or renovation projects that exceed standard appetite
- To consolidate multiple policies or scattered renewal dates under one coordinated program
- To implement parametric or deductible buyback solutions for faster recovery and better cash flow
- To manage wildfire-exposed or other high-risk property placements
- To leverage market intelligence and underwriter relationships that keep deals moving
Why Jencap Is the Partner Agents Trust
Bring Jencap your most complex property risks. We don’t shy away from what others might consider a hard pass. We are a problem-solving force, delivering:
- Nationwide market relationships across every property class.
- In-house modeling to optimize CAT and earthquake limits.
- Expertise with shared and layered programs, parametric insurance, and deductible buyback programs.
- A proven record of solving tough placement challenges others can’t.
Whether it’s a CAT carveout, a claims-driven non-renewal, or a layered program that demands expert coordination, Jencap is the wholesale property insurance broker that delivers. Connect with a Jencap Property Specialist for a quote today.
