Average directors and officers pricing falls in third quarter: Analysis

The average price for $1 million in limits for directors and officers liability during the third quarter decreased 11.6% from the same period a year ago, according to Aon Corp.'s Financial Services Group.

“Since D&O policies are typically written for a 12-month period, this year-over-year comparison is a close approximation of renewal pricing and a more significant indictor of renewal results in the quarter,” according to the Tuesday report, “Quarterly D&O Pricing Index, Third Quarter 2011.”

A comparison of only those programs that renewed during the third quarter this year and last year revealed comparable results, according to the Aon report. On that basis, pricing decreased 12.5%, it said.

“Drilling down even further, pricing for primary policies in these programs are down 6.4%, confirming our suspicion that primary pricing is flattening and that the bulk of the decreases we are seeing recently are being driven by competition in the excess layers,” the Chicago-based insurance broker said in the report.