--- ticker: WRB company: WRB filing_type: 10-K year_current: 2025 year_prior: 2024 risks_added: 1 risks_removed: 1 risks_modified: 2 risks_unchanged: 26 source: SEC EDGAR url: https://riskdiff.com/wrb/2025-vs-2024/ markdown_url: https://riskdiff.com/wrb/2025-vs-2024/index.md generated: 2026-06-01 --- # WRB: 10-K Risk Factor Changes 2025 vs 2024 > Source: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR) > Generated: 2026-06-01 > All data extracted directly from official filings. No hallucinated content. ## Summary | Status | Count | |--------|-------| | New risks added | 1 | | Risks removed | 1 | | Risks modified | 2 | | Unchanged | 26 | --- ## New in Current Filing: Use of artificial intelligence technologies by us or third-parties on which we rely could expose us to technological, security, legal, and other risks. Products or services offered that develop or adopt artificial intelligence ("AI") technologies, including generative AI and machine learning, offer potential benefits (e.g., with respect to efficiency) but likewise may raise technological, security, legal and other risks and challenges that may adversely affect our operations, business, or reputation. Such risks include the misuse, inadvertent or otherwise, of personal data or other sensitive, confidential or proprietary information; flaws in our models or training datasets resulting in biased, inaccurate or unanticipated outcomes; ethical considerations regarding the use and deployment of AI technologies; potential infringement of third-party intellectual property rights or the dilution of our intellectual property; and our ability to implement appropriate governance controls to ensure the ongoing, safe deployment of AI systems. AI technologies may be misused, and that risk is increased by the relative newness of the technology, the speed at which it is being adopted, and ongoing uncertainty with respect to the laws, regulations, and standards governing its 33 33 33 development and deployment federally, across states, and internationally. Such misuse, and a realization of the previously mentioned risks, could negatively impact our reputation, financial condition and results of operations, the demand for our products and services, otherwise cause competitive harm, and/or draw adverse legal and regulatory scrutiny. Moreover, because some AI technologies are relatively new, such as generative AI, many of the potential risks regarding their use are currently unknown. --- ## No Match in Current: We could be adversely affected by changes in U.S. Federal income tax laws. *This section from the 2024 filing does not have a high-confidence textual match in 2025. It may have been removed, merged, or substantially reworded.* Tax legislation commonly referred to as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which was signed into law on December 22, 2017, fundamentally overhauled the U.S. tax system by, among other significant changes, reducing the U.S. corporate income tax rate to 21%. In the context of the taxation of U.S. property/casualty insurance companies such as the Company, the Act also modified the loss reserve discounting rules and the proration rules that apply to reduce reserve deductions to reflect the lower corporate income tax rate. It is possible that other legislation could be introduced and enacted by the current Congress or future Congresses that could have an adverse impact on us. New regulations or pronouncements interpreting or clarifying provisions of the Act may be forthcoming. We cannot predict if, when or in what form such regulations or pronouncements may be provided, whether such guidance will have a retroactive effect or their potential impact on us. --- ## Modified: Our results may fluctuate as a result of many factors, including cyclical changes in the insurance and reinsurance industry. **Key changes:** - Reworded sentence: "The results of companies in the property casualty insurance industry historically have been subject to significant fluctuations and uncertainties in supply and demand and pricing, causing cyclical changes in the insurance and reinsurance industry." - Added sentence: "The uncertainty of an insurer's ultimate loss costs, and fluctuating competitive conditions, result in alternating periods of "hard" markets (more profitable for insurers) and "soft" markets (less profitable for insurers)." - Added sentence: "In recent years, improvement (or deterioration) in various lines of property casualty insurance has become less uniform in its cyclicality, with changes frequently happening at different rates, and even at times in different directions." - Added sentence: "Over the past several years, premium rates have increased for most lines of business, while they have decreased in others, most notably workers' compensation and certain professional liability lines of business." **Prior (2024):** 27 27 27 The results of companies in the property casualty insurance industry historically have been subject to significant fluctuations and uncertainties in demand and pricing, causing cyclical changes in the insurance and reinsurance industry. The demand for insurance is influenced primarily by general economic conditions, while the supply of insurance is often directly related to available capacity or the perceived profitability of the business. At times, we have faced significant competition in our business as a result of existing insurers seeking to gain or maintain market share as well as new entrants and capital providers. Recently, premium rates have increased for most lines of business, while they have decreased in others, most notably workers' compensation and certain professional liability lines of business. The adequacy of premium rates is affected mainly by the severity and frequency of claims, which are influenced by many factors, including natural disasters, regulatory measures and court decisions that define and expand the extent of coverage, and the effects of economic and social inflation on the amount of claims payments due for injuries or losses. In addition, investment rates of return impact rate adequacy. These factors can have a significant impact on ultimate profitability because a property casualty insurance policy is priced before its costs are known as premiums usually are determined long before claims are reported. These factors could produce results that would have a negative impact on our results of operations and financial condition. **Current (2025):** The results of companies in the property casualty insurance industry historically have been subject to significant fluctuations and uncertainties in supply and demand and pricing, causing cyclical changes in the insurance and reinsurance industry. The demand for insurance is influenced primarily by general economic conditions, while the supply of insurance is often directly related to available capacity based on the perceived profitability of the business. The adequacy of premium rates is affected mainly by the severity and frequency of claims, which are influenced by many factors, including natural disasters and other catastrophic events, regulatory measures and court decisions that define and expand the extent of coverage, and the effects of economic and social inflation on the amount of claims payments due for injuries or losses. In addition, investment rates of return impact rate adequacy. These factors can have a significant impact on ultimate profitability because a property casualty insurance policy is priced before its costs are known as premiums usually are determined long before claims are reported. These factors could produce results that would have a negative impact on our results of operations and financial condition. The uncertainty of an insurer's ultimate loss costs, and fluctuating competitive conditions, result in alternating periods of "hard" markets (more profitable for insurers) and "soft" markets (less profitable for insurers). In recent years, improvement (or deterioration) in various lines of property casualty insurance has become less uniform in its cyclicality, with changes frequently happening at different rates, and even at times in different directions. Over the past several years, premium rates have increased for most lines of business, while they have decreased in others, most notably workers' compensation and certain professional liability lines of business. --- ## Modified: New or emerging pandemics, whether related to COVID-19 or otherwise, may materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial position and liquidity in the future. **Key changes:** - Reworded sentence: "New or emerging pandemics, whether related to COVID-19 or otherwise, may materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial position and liquidity, including the following: •Legislative and regulatory initiatives in response to pandemics may adversely affect us by, for example, retroactively mandating coverage for losses that our policies were not intended to cover." **Prior (2024):** The COVID-19 pandemic, including the related impact on the U.S. and global economies, materially and adversely affected our results of operations. The pandemic's impact on our business may continue, and potentially even worsen, whether as a result of COVID-19's long-term effects, or new or emerging variants, or even other potential pandemics. We cannot predict the magnitude or duration of such impact, particularly given the uncertainties associated with COVID-19 or other potential pandemics. The ultimate impact of COVID-19 or other potential pandemics on our results of operations, financial position and liquidity is not yet known, but includes the following: Adverse Legislative and Regulatory Action. Legislative and regulatory initiatives in response to COVID-19 or other similar future pandemics may adversely affect us, particularly in our workers' compensation and property coverages businesses. For example, our business may be subject to, certain initiatives, including, but not limited to: legislative and regulatory action that seeks to retroactively mandate coverage for losses that our insurance policies would not otherwise cover and which were not priced to cover; legislative and regulatory action providing for shifting presumptions with respect to the burdens of proof for "essential" workers on workers' compensation coverages and varying definitions of "essential" workers; actions prohibiting us from cancelling insurance policies in accordance with our policy terms or non-renewing policies at their natural expiration; and/or orders to provide premium refunds, grant extended grace periods for premium payments, and provide extended time to pay past due premiums. Any such action would likely increase both our underwriting losses and our expenses and any legal challenges to any such action could take years to resolve. Claim Losses Related to COVID-19 May Exceed Reserves. As of December 31, 2023, we recorded approximately $384 million for COVID-19-related losses. Our reserves do not represent an exact calculation of liability, but represent an estimate of what management expects the ultimate settlement and claims administration will cost for claims that have occurred, whether known or unknown. Accordingly, given the uncertainties still associated with COVID-19 and its impact, our reserves and the underlying estimated level of claim losses and costs arising from COVID-19 may materially change. Claim Losses and Adjustment Expenses May Increase. As the effects of COVID-19 or future pandemics on industry practices and economic, legal, judicial, social and other environmental conditions occur, unexpected and unintended issues related to claims and coverages may emerge. These issues may adversely affect our business by extending coverage beyond our underwriting intent (including in the area of property coverages where physical damage requirements and communicable disease exclusions are currently being challenged) or by increasing the number and/or size of claims, each of which could adversely impact our results. Reinsurance. We purchase reinsurance in order to transfer part of the risk that we have assumed by writing insurance policies to reinsurance companies in exchange for part of the premium we receive in connection with assuming such risk. Although reinsurance makes the reinsurer contractually liable to us to the extent the risk is transferred to the reinsurer, it does not relieve us of our liability to our policyholders. There may be uncertainty surrounding the availability of reinsurance coverage for losses related to COVID-19 or any future pandemics as our reinsurers may dispute the applicability of reinsurance to such losses (including the application of reinsurance reinstatements) and, as a result, our reinsurers may refuse to pay reinsurance recoverables related thereto or they may not pay them on a timely basis. On December 22, 2023, one of the 30 30 30 Company's subsidiaries filed a lawsuit against certain reinsurers to recover in excess of $90 million in respect of certain losses paid to its policyholders under certain event cancellation and related insurance policies. See, "Item 3. Legal Proceedings." In addition, we may be unable to renew our current reinsurance coverages or obtain appropriate new reinsurance covers with respect to certain exposures under our policies, including exposures related to COVID-19 or any future pandemics, and therefore our net exposures could increase, or if we are unwilling to bear such increase in net exposure, we may reduce our level of underwriting commitments. Premium Volumes May Be Negatively Impacted. The demand for insurance is significantly influenced by general economic conditions. Consequently, any reduced economic activity relating to potential pandemics is likely to decrease demand for our insurance products and services and negatively impact our premium volumes (and, in certain cases, may result in return of premiums due to a decrease in exposures). Investments. Disruptions in global financial markets due to future pandemics could cause us to incur unrealized and/or realized investment losses, including impairments in our fixed maturity portfolio and other investments. In addition, the economic uncertainty may result in a decline in interest rates, which may negatively impact our net investment income from future investment activity. Operational Disruptions and Costs. Our operations could be disrupted if key members of our senior management or a significant percentage of our workforce or the workforce of our agents, brokers, suppliers or other third party service providers are unable to continue to work because of illness, government directives or otherwise. In addition, our agents, brokers, suppliers and other third party service providers, which we rely on for key aspects of our operations, are subject to similar risks and uncertainties, which may interfere with their ability to fulfill their respective commitments and responsibilities to us in a timely manner and in accordance with the agreed-upon terms. Any remote working policies we implement may result in disruptions to our business routines, heightened risk to cybersecurity attacks and data security incidents and a greater dependency on internet and telecommunication access and capabilities. **Current (2025):** The COVID-19 pandemic, including the related impact on the U.S. and global economies, materially and adversely affected our results of operations. New or emerging pandemics, whether related to COVID-19 or otherwise, may materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial position and liquidity, including the following: •Legislative and regulatory initiatives in response to pandemics may adversely affect us by, for example, retroactively mandating coverage for losses that our policies were not intended to cover. •Although the Company has estimated the potential COVID-19 impact to its contingency and event cancellation, workers' compensation, and other lines of business under a number of possible scenarios, there remains uncertainty around COVID-19's ultimate impact on the Company and its related reserves. •Claims and coverage issues may emerge that extend coverage beyond our underwriting intent or increase the number and/or size of claims. •Our reinsurers may refuse to pay reinsurance recoverables due to uncertainty regarding reinsurance coverage for losses related to COVID-19 or any future pandemics. For example, as described in "Item 3. Legal Proceedings," in December 2023, one of our subsidiaries filed a lawsuit against certain reinsurers to recover in excess of $90 million in respect of certain losses under certain event cancellation insurance policies. In addition, we may be unable to renew our reinsurance coverages or obtain other appropriate reinsurance covers with respect to pandemic-related exposures. •Reduced economic activity relating to potential pandemics is likely to decrease demand for our insurance products. •Disruptions in global financial markets due to future pandemics could cause us to incur investment losses. •Our operations could be disrupted if our senior management or a significant percentage of our workforce or of our agents, brokers, suppliers or other service providers are unable to continue to work because of illness, government directives or otherwise. 28 28 28 --- *Data sourced from SEC EDGAR. Last updated 2026-06-01.*