Help

BI’s Article search uses Boolean search capabilities. If you are not familiar with these principles, here are some quick tips.

To search specifically for more than one word, put the search term in quotation marks. For example, “workers compensation”. This will limit your search to that combination of words.

To search for a combination of terms, use quotations and the & symbol. For example, “hurricane” & “loss”.

Login Register Subscribe

Commercial insurance rates continue to slide

Reprints
Commercial insurance rates continue to slide

Commercial property/casualty rates fell again in the first quarter of 2017 but the rate of decline eased, according to the latest pricing survey by the Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers.

On average, rates fell 2.5% across all accounts in the first quarter, compared with 3.3% in the fourth quarter of 2016, Washington-based CIAB said Tuesday. Insurance rates have declined for the past nine quarters, according to the brokerage trade group.

Once again, large accounts saw the greatest rate decrease at 3.8%. An increase in new and expanding market entrants and aggressive underwriting led to a competitive first quarter.

The biggest decline was in commercial property, down 3.1%, followed by general liability down 2.6%, workers compensation down 1.9%, and umbrella down 1.1%. The only major line that saw an increase was commercial auto, where rates rose 5.4% on average.

“Commercial premium pricing this quarter was consistent with what we saw in 2016,” Ken A. Crerar, president/CEO of CIAB, said in a statement. “The market remained soft across most lines of business. Poor loss ratios in commercial auto continued to drive pricing upward, a trend we continued to see in accounts of all sizes for that particular line.”