Insurance rates for popular commercial property/casualty lines increased modestly in January, with workers’ compensation and commercial automobile leading the average increase of 3% over the same period last year.
Industry analyst MarketScout reported while workers’ comp and commercial auto both increased at rates of 4%, five lines of coverage—crime, surety, inland marine, fiduciary and EPLI—rose by just 1%. BOP, general liability and umbrella/excess coverage met the average 3% rate increase, while commercial property, business interruption, professional liability and D&) rates rose 2%.
CEO Richard Kerr noted that “the moderation trend continues,” commenting:
“Additional capacity, insurance-linked securities and a more stable economic environment (despite recent stock-market adjustments) are partly responsible for the moderating rate environment.”
Kerr also pointed out that small accounts saw the largest rate increases at 4%, while medium accounts and large accounts rose just 3% and 4%, respectively.
Some industries also experienced greater increases than others.
The manufacturing, contracting, transportation and service increases all saw their P/C rates rise by 4%, while premiums increased by 35% for the habitational sector and by 2% for energy and public entity.
The report is in line with a recent 2014 Insurance Market Outlook report from Wells Fargo, which found the P/C market “will be stable and competitive in 2014.”
“We expect 2014 to be a good year for the majority of our commercial property and casualty insurance customers,” commended Simon Hodge, head of the Professional Risk Group at Wells Fargo. “We anticipate significant marketplace capacity, excellent coverage quality in many areas, and do not expect a lot of pricing volatility.”
MarketScout relied on the National Alliance for Insurance Education and Research to conduct pricing surveys for the report.
