Commercial insurance rates rise across most lines

Premium renewal rate changes for most standard commercial lines remained in positive territory in April, according to a report released Friday by insurance exchange Ivans Insurance Solutions.

Workers compensation was the only line tracked that saw declines, with rates falling 2.9%, deteriorating slightly from the prior month when rates fell 2.8%, the Tampa, Florida-based unit of insurance technology firm Applied Systems Inc. said in a statement.

Compared with March, April was down in premium renewal rate change across the majority of commercial lines, except commercial auto and umbrella, which experienced slight upticks.

Commercial auto premium renewal rates increased 4.5% on average, Ivans said. April marked the highest premium renewal rate change for this line in 2018.

Umbrella rates increased 2.3%, and April marked the highest premium renewal rate change in 2018 for this line.

General liability premium rates increased 2.2%, commercial property rates rose 3% and business owner’s policy premium renewal rates increased 3.9%.

The monthly Ivans Index analyzes more than 120 million data transactions and measures the premium difference year-over-year, according to the statement.