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Member, Beacon International Group, Ltd.
There is no sign that the commercial property/casualty industry is entering a hard market, according to a survey released Wednesday by the Washington-based Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers.
The survey—the latest in the CIAB’s quarterly Commercial Property/Casualty Market Index Survey, which began in late 1999—found that overall rate declines for accounts of all sizes during the second quarter of the year were “fairly consistent” with decreases in the first three months of the year. Average rates declined 4.9% in the second quarter compared with a 5.1% percent decline in the first quarter, according to the CIAB.
On average, large accounts declined 6.7% on average compared with the first quarter decline of 6.4%. Midsize accounts dropped an average of 5.7%, about the same decline as in the first quarter, the CIAB said. The rate of decline for small accounts was 2.5% compared with 3.3% during the first three months of the year.
“We saw no significant change in pricing trends from the first quarter to the second quarter,” said CIAB President Ken A. Crerar in a statement accompanying the survey results. “If a hard market is coming, it’s up the road a bit. The pricing appears to be more a result of the weak economy than capacity.”
The survey results are based on the responses of 115 agents and brokers across the country.
The complete survey is available at www.ciab.com.