Despite predictions last week by market "groundhogs" that premiums should climb modestly this year, commercial property-casualty prices continued to fall last month, with MarketScout's barometer showing a 6 percent average decline in January.

Indeed, while analysts queried for the Insurance Information Institute's annual "Groundhog Forecast" (see accompanying story) combined to predict 3.8 percent premium growth for the industry in 2006, the p-c market shows no signs of hardening right now, although some lines and industries reported price increases, according to MarketScout, an online insurance marketplace.

"After the worst insured hurricane season on record pummeled the industry with over $50 billion in losses, many of the insurance industries' well-respected analysts predicted a tightening market," noted Richard Kerr, chairman and chief executive officer of Dallas-based MarketScout.

Continue Reading for Free

Register and gain access to:

  • Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.