June 18, 2026

UK and European trends and lessons to help French organisations improve cost control, operational efficiency and claims outcomes

PARIS – Sedgwick, the world’s leading risk and claims administration partner, has published its 2026 Claims Administration Intelligence Report analyzing trends across the UK and Europe and their implications for organizations operating in France. The report reviews the current challenges in claims administration, including rising costs, climate volatility, fraud, the development of artificial intelligence, the complexity of bodily injury claims, and European regulatory requirements, and demonstrates that effective management of these challenges has become a strategic lever for risk management, going beyond a mere operational process.

In preparing this report, Sedgwick drew general market statistics and company-sourced claims data covering 2.3 million losses received across Europe since 2020. This data was used as a foundation to examine in-depth the pressure points in claims administration, market evolution, and the wider implications for large organisations managing complex, high value programmes. 

“The growing use of outsourcing reflects market pressures. The European third-party administration (TPA) market is projected to grow by 55% by 2034. Claims management is now a key driver of financial performance, results, and regulatory exposure. Organizational choices—whether internal, outsourced, or a hybrid model—directly influence total cost of risk, financial predictability, and operational resilience,” says Céline Lefort, TPA Director, Sedgwick in France.

Top trends from the report include:

• Liability claims volumes continue to rise, but frequency figures mask downstream impact. The number of high-value claims (€100k+) has more than tripled since 2020, while the most expensive cases account for an unprecedented share of the total compensation paid. 
• The costs of motor claims have nearly doubled since 2021, and costs related to bodily injury have risen by about 50% since 2022. For France, the issue is particularly significant in cases of serious bodily injury: for a case of quadriplegia analyzed in the report, medical care and assistance account for 72% of the total compensation.
• Climate-related risks are becoming a major factor in the claims landscape. Climate-related claims consistently account for 19-22% of total volumes, and the associated reserves have risen from 13% to 22%. Across the European Union, the summer of 2025 caused at least €43 billion in short-term economic losses due to heat waves, droughts, and floods.
• Frauds are evolving because of AI. Nearly 10% of claims payouts in Europe are believed to be due to fraud whether detected or not and fraudsters are now using images, documents, identities, and narratives generated or altered by AI, underscoring the importance of robust governance and Specialised investigators.
• Automation creates value, but it must be carefully managed. The report highlights that 77% of policyholders prefer human handling for complex or sensitive claims, and that AI should be used to free up time for claims adjusters, not to replace human expertise and empathy.

The report also includes an analysis of trends in repair costs. In this context, the ability to quickly mobilize qualified networks, procurement power, and real-time analytical tools is becoming a key differentiator for players in outsourced claims management.

“Claims costs today depend as much on the quality of the repair chain as on the damage itself. Players with managed and qualified repair networks go beyond simply processing claims. They control the cost trajectory, from claim filing to closure, by orchestrating the entire repair ecosystem and providing end-to-end visibility,” emphasizes Stéphanie Barreau, Director of European Initiatives and CAT, Sedgwick in France.

For French organizations, these trends confirm the need to shift from reactive to proactive claims management. The trends, predictions, and data in the Claims Administration Intelligence Report will be monitored by Sedgwick’s experts throughout the year. For more information, click here. 

About Sedgwick

Sedgwick is the world’s leading risk and claims administration partner, helping clients thrive by navigating the unexpected. The company’s expertise, combined with the most advanced AI-enabled technology available, sets the standard for solutions in claims administration, loss adjusting, benefits administration and product recall. With over 33,000 colleagues and 10,000 clients across 80 countries, Sedgwick provides unmatched perspective, caring that counts, and solutions for the rapidly changing and complex risk landscape. Sedgwick’s majority shareholder is The Carlyle Group; Stone Point Capital LLC, Altas Partners, CDPQ, Onex and other management investors are minority shareholders. For more, see sedgwick.