Printed from BusinessInsurance.com

Commercial property/casualty market poised for soft cycle: MarketScout

Posted On: Jan. 5, 2015 12:00 AM CST

Commercial property/casualty market poised for soft cycle: MarketScout

The commercial property/casualty insurance market could be about to turn soft, according to the CEO of Dallas-based electronic insurance exchange MarketScout.

According to an analysis released by MarketScout on Monday, commercial property/casualty rates were on average flat in December.

Employment practices liability insurance rates rose 2%, and rates for six other lines increased by 1%, but rates for half of the lines tracked by MarketScout, including workers compensation and commercial property, were flat. No individual industry class experienced rate increases of more than 1%.

“We are on the cusp of a soft market,” said MarketScout CEO Richard Kerr in a statement accompanying the report.

“Throughout 2014, the composite P&C rate slowly drifted toward renewing as expiring, and in December we finally hit that mark,” Mr. Kerr said. “Historically, the move to softer rates is in line with prior market cycles”

“The next soft market will start as soon as a composite rate decrease is measured,” he said. “We expect the beginning of the next soft market cycle to be in early 2015.”