Another market analysis has determined that average U.S. commercial insurance pricing nudged slightly in the 2017 fourth quarter.
Willis Towers Watson’s latest Commercial Lines Insurance Pricing Survey found that prices ticked up less than 1 percent on average in Q4 compared to the same period a year ago. The CLIPS noted this is the 10th consecutive quarter that prices in the sector grew around the same average.
Last month, Marsh’s latest market index report made a similar finding, and both Willis Towers Watson and Marsh credited a historic level of natural catastrophes that hit in late 2017 for fueling the increase.
“Last year’s weather disasters were some of the most financially disruptive in history, and the survey results indicate we’re likely now seeing the initial response to the catastrophes on the pricing side of the property market,” Willis Towers Watson executive Pierre Laurin said in prepared remarks.
The CLIPS pointed out that commercial property prices are now producing increases in the low single digits after decreases during previous quarters. Commercial auto continues to display price hikes hitting close to the double-digit range, Willis Towers Watson said.
“Commercial auto rate increases show no signs of abatement, as insurers seek to restore the line to a profitable rate level,” Laurin said.
Not every commercial insurance line saw prices rise in Q4. Workers compensation and directors and officers liability generated “material price decreases” over the period compared to Q4 2016, according to the survey.
Source: Willis Towers Watson/CLIPS