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Member, Beacon International Group, Ltd.
NEW YORK—This year’s fourth quarter has shaped up to be much like the rest of the year as U.S. commercial insurance market conditions remain soft, according to preliminary rate information released Wednesday by Marsh Inc.
The New York-based insurance brokerage said in a statement that its clients renewing their insurance programs have experienced average rate reductions across all major lines of business compared with the fourth quarter of 2009.
Marsh’s fourth-quarter rate update is based on data from transactions brokered by the firm through early November. Market conditions haven’t changed much since Marsh’s third-quarter report.
Property rates declined an average of 4.4% during the fourth quarter of this year compared with the same period last year, while general liability rates have declined an average of 6.9%, Marsh reported.
Further, workers compensation rates declined an average of 3.7% during the fourth quarter; directors and officers liability rates for public companies declined an average of 7% for primary programs and 10.3% for total programs; and employment practices liability rates declined an average of 4.6% for primary programs and 4.7% for total programs.
“Barring a market-changing event, we do not expect this trend to reverse in the near future,” Dean Klisura, Marsh’s U.S. risk practices leader, said in the statement.