Large Loss Report 2026
Help inform your risk management strategy with insights on today's liability landscape
Why Read This
The Large Loss Report 2026 summarizes publicly reported major damage awards and settlements of at least $2.5 million that affected K-12 schools, colleges, and universities in 2025.
This report can help you:
-
Provide context for leadership discussions about the liability landscape.
-
Understand trends influencing claims severity.
-
Reinforce the importance of proactive risk management and thoughtful claims handling.
Trends From 2016-25: An analysis of the Large Loss Reports from 2016-25 shows trends holding for K-12 schools and higher education institutions. High costs reflect how social inflation impacts education claims, with high escalation of settlements and defense costs.
The summaries herein are provided for the purpose of informing institutions of trends observed in publicly available data. We provide this report as a service to our members, but the report in no way indicates UE’s assessment of the value of any claim. While some losses included in this report reflect trends UE has seen among our members’ education claims, the topics included are not an indication of the scope of UE coverage, nor should the inclusion of a settlement or award in this report be interpreted as reflecting an opinion by UE or our membership of its reasonableness. In addition, some of the loss outcomes may have changed due to the progress of legal proceedings since they were reported. Some losses occurred in prior years but were not publicly reported until 2025.
Why Read This
The Large Loss Report 2026 summarizes publicly reported major damage awards and settlements of at least $2.5 million that affected K-12 schools, colleges, and universities in 2025.
This report can help you:
-
Provide context for leadership discussions about the liability landscape.
-
Understand trends influencing claims severity.
-
Reinforce the importance of proactive risk management and thoughtful claims handling.
Trends From 2016-25: An analysis of the Large Loss Reports from 2016-25 shows trends holding for K-12 schools and higher education institutions. High costs reflect how social inflation impacts education claims, with high escalation of settlements and defense costs.
The summaries herein are provided for the purpose of informing institutions of trends observed in publicly available data. We provide this report as a service to our members, but the report in no way indicates UE’s assessment of the value of any claim. While some losses included in this report reflect trends UE has seen among our members’ education claims, the topics included are not an indication of the scope of UE coverage, nor should the inclusion of a settlement or award in this report be interpreted as reflecting an opinion by UE or our membership of its reasonableness. In addition, some of the loss outcomes may have changed due to the progress of legal proceedings since they were reported. Some losses occurred in prior years but were not publicly reported until 2025.