The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers (CIAB) has reported that average premium rates have risen for the first time in 13 quarters, according to its fourth-quarter Commercial Property/Casualty Market Index Survey.
2017’s third-quarter saw a series of massive catastrophes and cyber events occur, which led to a decrease of 1.3% in commercial property and casualty (P&C) rates for Q3. However, CIAB reports that Q4 saw these rates pick up slightly, with a minimal increase of 0.3% across all-sized accounts.
The Council also reports an increase in average premiums for the second consecutive quarter across five major lines of business, rising from 1.0% to 1.7%. These include commercial auto, workers’ compensation, commercial property, general liability and umbrella.
Ken A. Crerar, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of CIAB, said: “As expected, coming off a historic nat cat season, we are in a transitional market but it is more stable than anticipated.
“Due to abundant risk transfer capacity in the form of excess traditional and nontraditional capital, competition remains high in the market and carriers continue to be aggressive on new and existing business.”
There was a large increase in demand for cyber coverage in 2017 after the high-profile cyber events of the summer and autumn. However, CIAB’s recent Cyber Market Watch Survey suggests that this demand did not translate into significant policy purchases.
The Council acquired the results for their reports by surveying broker members across the U.S from 1st October to 31st December 2017.
