Soft market (definition)
The expanding phase of the cycle: capacity abundant, rates flat or falling, underwriting flexible, and remarketing easy.
A soft market is the expansion phase of the insurance cycle: capacity is abundant, rates are flat or falling, carrier appetite widens, and underwriters compete for business they would have declined two years earlier.
Soft markets feel easy and quietly erode discipline. Remarketing wins are cheap, so producers chase price; carriers loosen terms to hold volume; and books accumulate accounts won on premium alone, which are exactly the accounts that leave the same way.
The operator’s soft-market discipline is to keep selling coverage adequacy and service while competitors sell price, because the cycle always turns.