Property/casualty insurance rates up 1% in February

Property/casualty insurance rates were up 1% on average in February, Dallas-based electronic insurance exchange MarketScout said Thursday.

By coverage classification, commercial auto and professional liability coverage, exhibited the greatest price increases in February, at 2%, respectively each. Conversely, workers compensation, business interruption and inland marine were all flat.

Richard Kerr, CEO of MarketScout, said the uptick could indicate that underwriters are exhibiting greater discipline and willingly walking away from underpriced business.

“February is normally a low-volume premium month, so we would caution about putting too much credibility in these metrics; however, historically once the insurance market starts softening, it normally accelerates rather than moderates or turns around,” Mr. Kerr said in a statement. “We speculate insurers are not going to cut deep and long in this cycle.”

P/C rates were flat in January.