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Commercial prices rise an average of 10.7% in Q4: CIAB

Posted On: Feb. 17, 2021 4:26 PM CST

prices rise

Commercial insurance prices rose by an average of 10.7%, across all-sized accounts, compared with 11.7% in the third quarter of 2020, according to The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers’ fourth-quarter Commercial P/C Market Survey on Wednesday.

 

Fourth quarter was the 13th consecutive quarter with increased prices and the third consecutive quarter in which premiums increased for all lines.

 

Large accounts saw the largest increase at 13.7%, followed by medium accounts at 11.7% and small accounts at 6.7%.

 

By line of business, umbrella coverage had the largest premium increase at 21.3%, followed by directors and officers liability coverage at 14.7%, and commercial property at 12.9%.

 

The average premium increase for cyber coverage of 11.1% was the first time that figure broke double digits since the Market Index began tracking the line, the report said.

 

Some lines saw capacity contractions, with 88% of respondents reporting a decrease in capacity for umbrella coverage, 78% for commercial property, and 64% for D&O, and nearly 50% for cyber.

 

“Umbrella and D&O liability posed continued challenges due to a reluctance for carriers to write those risks, and new trouble for cyber emerged following a recent uptick in costly ransomware attacks in 2020,” Ken A. Crerar, president and CEO of CIAB, said in the report.

 

Business interruption claims continued to taper off in fourth-quarter 2020, but not to pre-pandemic levels.

 

Only 38% of respondents reported an increase in business interruption claims, compared with 62% in third-quarter 2020 and to the record high of 94% in the second quarter of 2020. All of these are, however, higher than in the fourth quarter of 2019 “before the pandemic,” when only 18% of respondents reported increased business interruption claims.

More insurance and risk management news on the coronavirus crisis here.