Global commercial insurance prices rise in Q4: Marsh

Average global commercial insurance prices increased by 2% in the fourth quarter of 2018, the fifth straight quarterly hike, driven by property and financial and professional lines of coverage, Marsh LLC said in a report Monday.

Composite pricing increased in all regions for the first time since the survey started in 2012, according to the Global Insurance Market Index report for the fourth quarter of 2018.

Financial and professional lines price increases were seen across all global regions, especially in Australia, where prices increased 30% on some directors and officers and financial institution risks, the report said.

 

Financial and professional liability pricing increased 4.7% on average across all global regions, and by 1.5% in the U.S., where public company directors and officers insurance prices increased by 3.4%, with 65% of accounts seeing increases, Marsh said.

“While pricing for property and financial and professional lines have increased globally for five straight quarters, market capacity remains strong in most geographies, Dean Klisura, president of global placement and specialties at Marsh, said in a statement.

Average property prices increased more than 3.5% globally, in line with prior quarters, the report said.

In the U.S., property prices were up 3.8% and have increased every month since October 2017, led by a nearly 7% increase in large layered programs (gross written premium of $1 million-plus), according to the report.

Average global casualty prices declined 1.1%, continuing a trend of year-on-year declines stretching back to 2013, according to the report.

In the U.S., casualty prices declined 2% and have now trended down in all but one quarter since 2014, driven by workers compensation price decreases of 4.4%, Marsh said. Cyber prices in the U.S. declined 0.4%, the report said.

Overall insurance pricing in the U.S. in the fourth quarter increased by 0.4%, according to the report.