Values are growing faster than appetite
Risk and Insurance reported in May 2026 that the average insured data center project value has grown from about 150 million dollars to as much as 3 billion over five years. Swiss Re Institute projects the global data center insurance market to grow from about 10.6 billion dollars to about 24.2 billion by 2030. Premium is growing, but individual insurers still manage how much they accept on any single site.
Density and concentration
AI facilities pack a great deal of value into a small footprint, and they rely on power and cooling systems that are newer and in some cases less proven at scale, such as liquid cooling. A single fire, a cooling failure or a power event can affect a large share of a campus at once. Underwriters evaluate that concentration of loss carefully, which can reduce the capacity they are willing to offer.
How placements are structured
Large programs are typically built in layers, with a primary insurer and excess layers above it, and with the total capacity spread across several markets. Construction projects add a builder's risk policy with its own timing and delay in start-up considerations, which cover the loss of anticipated income if completion is delayed by a covered event. Each market has its own view of the risk, so the order and timing of approaches matters.
What helps a developer get the capacity it needs
Start early, since a large placement can take weeks to assemble. Prepare a clear technical submission describing the site, the design redundancy, the cooling approach, fire protection, the contractors and the construction schedule. Be realistic about limits for natural catastrophe perils, which are often constrained by location. A broker who can read the engineering and speak to underwriters in their own terms improves the odds that capacity materializes when the project needs it.
- Begin the placement process well before financial close or construction start.
- Provide engineering detail on power, cooling, fire protection and redundancy.
- Identify peak loss scenarios and how the design limits them.
- Plan layered capacity across several insurers.
Last updated October 22, 2026. Written by the Alton Risk placement team.