Admiral Tops Insurance DataLab 2026 Gibraltar Underwriting Ratings as Market Outperforms UK

Admiral has been named the best-performing Gibraltar-regulated insurer by market intelligence firm Insurance DataLab, following analysis of insurers’ latest Solvency and Financial Condition Reports.

Admiral achieved an overall Underwriting Rating of 72.0%, securing its first Insurance DataLab Gold Award. Based on Insurance DataLab’s proprietary formula, the ratings assess insurers across three key pillars – combined operating ratio (COR), three-year aggregate COR, and improvement in COR over the last 12 months – with the top performers receiving an Insurance DataLab Gold Award.

Admiral is joined on the list of Gibraltar Gold Award winners by One Insurance (66.4%), Casualty and General Insurance (Europe) (66.4%), AA Underwriting (65.2%) and Nelson (65.1%).

Admiral reported a COR of 83.3% for 2025/26, compared with 92.4% a year earlier, while its three-year aggregate COR stood at 88.8%. This combination of strong current profitability, longer-term performance and year-on-year improvement helped Admiral secure top spot in Gibraltar for the first time.

One Insurance ranked second with an overall Underwriting Rating of 66.4%, securing its first Insurance DataLab Gold Award. Its latest COR of 80.0% was the strongest among this year’s Gibraltar Gold Award winners, while its three-year aggregate COR stood at 80.8%.

Casualty and General Insurance (Europe) also achieved an overall rating of 66.4%, after reporting a COR of 92.5% for 2025/26 – a 3.3 percentage point improvement on the previous year. Its three-year aggregate COR stood at 94.7%.

Two previous winners complete Gibraltar’s Gold Award list for 2026. AA Underwriting secured its second consecutive Gold Award after also featuring among the winners in 2025. Its latest COR improved from 94.8% to 93.0%, while its three-year aggregate COR stood at 98.6%.

Nelson, meanwhile, returned to the Gold Award list after previously topping Insurance DataLab’s Gibraltar Underwriting Ratings in 2023. It recorded an overall Underwriting Rating of 65.1% this year, supported by a COR of 95.8% and a three-year aggregate COR of 96.7%.

The wider Gibraltar market also delivered a stronger underwriting performance than UK-regulated insurers during the latest reporting period. Across Gibraltar-regulated insurers, the aggregate COR stood at 89.2% in 2025/26, compared with 95.2% for the UK market – a difference of six percentage points.

Both markets improved compared with the previous year, but the improvement was considerably stronger in Gibraltar. Gibraltar’s aggregate COR improved by 5.4 percentage points from 94.6%, while UK insurers knocked just 1.8 percentage points off there 97.0% COR.

"Admiral has delivered an excellent underwriting performance, combining strong profitability in its latest results with a substantial improvement over the past 12 months and a strong longer-term record. It is a thoroughly deserving recipient of this year’s top ranking in Gibraltar. Congratulations to Admiral and all of this year’s Gibraltar Gold Award winners." said Dan King, co-founder of Insurance DataLab.

"The performance of the wider Gibraltar market is also particularly notable. Its aggregate combined operating ratio improved by more than five percentage points, compared with an improvement of less than two percentage points in the UK, widening the gap between the two markets." said Dan King, co-founder of Insurance DataLab.