The insurance industry will continue to see premium rates either flat or down by 10 percent, except for catastrophe risks in the United States, executives from Marsh said.

Using words such as “competitive” and “stable,” executives from Marsh, the insurance brokerage arm of New York-based Marsh & McLennan Companies, discussed the status of the current market and offered a glimpse of where the market could turn in 2007.

The observations came today during the insurance brokerage firm's continuing “New Reality of Risk” series Webcast. Titled “Insurance Market Update Fourth Quarter 2006,” the session discussed a range of markets including casualty, property, directors and officers, and reinsurance.

Tony Tam, managing director with Marsh's Casualty Practice, said the primary casualty insurance market rates are competitive with decreases up to 10 percent. Higher decreases are available for insureds with a favorable loss history and significant retentions.

He noted that “there is general consensus the market will remain as competitive as it is now through 2007.”

Insurers' appetite for risk is increasing, he said, and more insurers are offering guaranteed loss programs, especially mid-sized business with favorable loss records.

Despite the competitive market, he added, insurers are maintaining underwriting discipline and require detailed submissions.

On the property side, Mike Hudson, managing director with Marsh's property practice, noted that despite this year's mild hurricane season, prices are expected to remain high for catastrophe prone areas with increased retentions in the United States.

Insurers, he said, have reduced capacity, resulting from new hurricane loss models increasing potential losses and rating agencies' pressure on carriers to increase capital.

The catastrophe market crunch extends to earthquake risks where pricing is on the increase and capacity is shrinking, he said.

Clients with heavy catastrophe exposed programs saw rate increases as high as 500 percent or more, he noted.

“Insurance markets are trying to realign their risk exposures and are actively soliciting insureds without cat exposures,” Mr. Hudson said.

By region, Florida average rate increases were 200 percent, while Louisiana and Texas region saw increases of 90 percent. The Northeast and Midwest clients, on the other hand, saw average rate increases of about 10 percent.

There is cautious addition to capacity through some new underwriting vehicles and state programs, but it still remains tight, said Mr. Hudson.

Internationally, H.B. Whitmore, managing director with Marsh's international practice, pointed out that the market is seeing flat to 15 percent decreases. However, businesses with catastrophe exposures in the United States did see increases in their programs. Catastrophe exposures outside of the United States are not seeing increases of the same size.

On the reinsurance side, Sean Mooney, senior vice president with Guy Carpenter, MMC's reinsurance brokerage subsidiary, said 2007 should be stable to soft, except for the North Atlantic property business.

“Even if we had something like a [Hurricane] Katrina, we don't believe the market will be that severally disrupted because we have had strong profitability in most other lines,” he said.

Discussing directors and officers coverage, Greg Spore, senior vice president with Marsh's FINPRO practice, said pricing will be stable to down as carriers compete for business.

George Pallis, managing director with Marsh's casualty practice, reviewed the broker's benchmarking reports on casualty and liability.

A rebroadcast of the discussion is available through Marsh's Web site at www.marsh.com.

Special Reports /

Market Sees Downward Trends Except Property Cat

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