Despite a generally softening property-casualty insurance market, a significant percentage of risk managers expect prices to rise for selected coverage, and anticipate their overall premium spending and retention levels to either remain unchanged or even increase over the next 12 months, according to a survey of National Underwriter readers sponsored by Miller Insurance Services Ltd.

Indeed, although 39 percent of corporate insurance buyers anticipate overall premium spending to drop between 1- and 10 percent, 12 percent expect the status quo, while 38 percent believe insurance outlays will actually rise between 1- and 10 percent.

A small minority of the 132 risk managers surveyed believe they face a sharp hike in overall premium spending–with 4 percent signaling a rise of 11-to-25 percent, and 2 percent expecting more than a 25 percent increase.