The third quarter of 2025 brought a surge in claims activity, making it our most active quarter to date with 63 total reports. As the Holmes Murphy Architects and Engineers (A&E) team continues to monitor real-time claims data, emerging trends are becoming clearer—particularly around Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) issues, which remain the leading cause of reported claims.

We’ve summarized our key insights below—for additional context, check out our comprehensive report.

Claims and Pre-Claims

During the third quarter of 2025, our clients reported a total of 18 claims and 45 matters for pre-claim assistance, averaging approximately one report per business day. Activity is up slightly from Q2 2025. July 2025 stood out as the busiest month, with 33 matters reported. The data shows Civil Engineering Loss Preventions (LP) / Claims were down 8% from Q2, and Architect LPs/Claims are up 8% from Q2.

Revenue and Size of Firms

This is the first quarter that our small firms did not lead the way with claims / pre-claim assistance reports. Q3 data shows that our mid-size firms ($10-$50 million) experienced the greatest frequency with 16 pre-claim assistance matters and 8 claims reported.

Quality Control Claims

As we have reported for the past three consecutive quarters, third-party injuries are not the primary source of new claim reports. Our data reveals a higher frequency of issues related to quality control, with 50% of matters reported in Q3 derived from QA/QC matters. Although QA/QC issues are more frequent than third-party injuries, third-party injury claims tend to experience higher severity in terms of total claim value.

Geographic Breakdown

We continue to monitor the claim reporting data by geographic region. As more data points come in, we hope to be able to provide context to which areas see more claim activity.

The Importance of Reporting Pre-Claim Assistance Matters

Our carrier partners stress the importance of early and proactive reporting. The data backs this up: 8 out of 10 pre-claim matters are resolved before escalating into formal claims. Early engagement leads to better outcomes—and fewer surprises.

We’re Here to Help

For more information or to discuss these findings in greater detail, please reach out to our Holmes Murphy team.