Commercial insurance prices gains slow - Marsh

Global commercial insurance prices rose 18% in the first quarter, according to Marsh’s latest Global Insurance Market Index. That follows average annual increases of 22% in Q4 2020 and 20% in Q3 2020. The first quarter of 2021 was the first to show a drop in the average rate of increase since the index reported the first rise in global rates in the fourth quarter of 2017.

Increases across geographies moderated due to generally slower rate rises in property insurance and financial and professional lines, according to Marsh. The UK, with a composite pricing increase of 35% (down from 44% in Q4) and the Pacific region, with an increase of 29% (down from 35% in Q4) drove the global composite rate.

The rate of increase in the US was 14% (down from 17%), in Asia 8% (down from 11%), and in Latin America and the Caribbean 5% (down from 9%).

Other survey findings included:

• Global property insurance pricing was up an average of 15%, down from the 20% increase in Q4 2020. Casualty pricing was up 6% on average, from 7% in Q4.
• Pricing in financial and professional lines had the highest rate of increase among major insurance product categories at 40%, compared to 45% in Q4.
• Cyber insurance pricing bucked the trend, with prices increasing in Q1 by 35% in the US and 29% in the UK, driven by a spike in frequency and severity of losses. In Q4, cyber rates were 17% in the US and 26% in the UK.

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“Although we will continue to see price increases in some lines and the market overall will remain challenging for our clients, we expect price increases to continue to moderate throughout the rest of the year,” said Lucie Clarke, president of Marsh Specialty and Marsh Global Placement.