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Wildfire-exposed commercial property rate hikes 10-20% in 2022: RPS

Posted On: Feb. 9, 2022 1:13 PM CST

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Commercial property insurance buyers with wildfire exposures will see average 2022 rate increases of 10% to 20%, or more, Risk Placement Services Inc. said in a report Wednesday.

Buyers can also expect “material changes” in terms and conditions, the Rolling Meadows, Illinois-based excess and surplus lines broker and managing general agent unit of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. said in its 2022 Property Market Outlook.

Excess and surplus lines capacity will likely contract in wildfire-prone markets in California, while there are growing concerns around increased wildfire activity in the Pacific Northwest and Colorado, the report said.

While many policyholders will see their property rates moderate in 2022, there will be plenty of exceptions around catastrophe-exposed risks and/or loss-affected accounts.

E&S insurers have been shedding unattractive risks, raising rates, lowering coverage limits and adjusting policy terms, the report said.

Greater uncertainty around catastrophic events means that most insurers will be “more conservative in their capital deployment,” Wes Robinson, national property president at RPS, said in the report.