Property/casualty price increases grow

Pricing increases for accounts of all sizes increased an average of 5.2%, compared with an average of 3.5% in first-quarter 2019 and 2.4% in fourth-quarter 2018, according to results from The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers’ second-quarter 2019 commercial property/casualty market survey.

Medium-sized accounts saw the largest increases, averaging 6.2%, with large accounts at 5.6% and small at 3.9%, data from the report showed.

Prices increases for commercial lines, with the exception of workers compensation, averaged 4.6% during the second quarter compared with 3.4% in the first quarter, the CIAB said.

Commercial property led the way with an 8.5% increase, compared with 5.9% in the first quarter and the first time since the end of 2014 in which another line rose more than commercial auto, where premiums increased 8.4%, the report said, compared with 8.8% in the previous quarter.

General liability premiums rose an average of 3.2% in the second quarter compared with an average of 2.0% in the first-quarter 2019, data from the report showed. Umbrella coverage rose an average of 5.7% compared with 3.3% in the last quarter.

Workers compensation saw premiums fall an average of 2.5% compared with an average drop of 3.3% in the first quarter, the data showed.

Survey respondents noted that insurers continued to pull back from areas significantly affected by catastrophes with nearly 60% of respondents reporting a decrease in capacity for commercial property, the report said.

“This marked the seventh consecutive quarter of increased premium pricing,” Ken A. Crerar, CIAB president and CEO, said in a statement issued with the report. “Additionally, the rate of increase has grown consistently quarter-over-quarter.”