Commercial insurance prices in the U.S increased by 2% over the third quarter of 2018, according to re/insurance broker Willis Towers Watson’s (WTW) Commercial Lines Insurance Pricing Survey (CLIPS).
The survey established that prices rose materially in commercial auto, commercial property and excess/umbrella liability for a second consecutive quarter.
Price changes for most lines were largely similar to those reported in the second quarter of 2018, with commercial property lines generating increases in the low to mid-single digits for the fourth consecutive quarter.
The outlier in the results continues to be commercial auto, WTW noted, which reported price increases in near double digits again for the fourth consecutive quarter.
Workers compensation continued to experience ongoing price reductions, in contrast to all other surveyed lines.
When comparing account sizes, WTW said that price changes were positive and of similar magnitude across all segments for the second consecutive quarter, as mid-market and large accounts pricing data caught up to the recently larger increases reported for small accounts.
Specialty account prices also accelerated modestly and are of similar magnitude to standard lines in aggregate, the survey found.
“A second quarter of meaningful price increases may signal a reaction to the much talked about emergence of unfavorable loss trends beyond auto,” said Ben Williams, Director of Insurance Consulting and Technology at WTW.
“As in the past, and perhaps not surprisingly, increases in small accounts seem to have acted as a leading indicator,” Williams added. “Middle market and large accounts are catching up with larger increases this quarter.”
