Commercial insurance rates steady

U.S. commercial insurance prices remained nearly flat in the third quarter of 2017 compared with the same period last year, according to Willis Towers Watson P.L.C.’s Commercial Lines Insurance Pricing Survey.

Price changes reported by insurers on policies written during the third quarter of 2017 averaged less than 1% up or down for the ninth consecutive quarter, the brokerage said Monday in a statement.

The moderating trend in price increases began in the first quarter of 2013, the company added.

Price changes in the third quarter were “fairly consistent” with those reported in the second quarter for most lines of business, the survey showed.

Workers compensation and directors and officers liability showed modest price decreases, while commercial property prices showed a slight decrease.

Commercial auto continued to be the outlier in the survey, continuing to net “meaningful price increases.”

Most other lines saw price changes in the low single digits, while price changes were positive for small account sizes and flat for midmarket and large accounts.

“Through three quarters of 2017, preliminary data indicate little movement in (property/casualty) commercial insurers’ loss ratios, excluding the impact of catastrophes,” Pierre Laurin, Willis Towers Watson’s Americas property/casualty sales and practice leader for insurance consulting and technology, said in the statement.