There is probably little debate that 2009 was one of the toughest years in a long time for insurance agents and brokers, who confronted the dual challenges of a continued soft commercial lines market and the lingering effect of the recession, which shrunk insurable exposures, reduced commissions and inhibited organic growth.

Indeed, 2009 fourth-quarter property and casualty premium rates continued to fall at the rate of 6 percent on average–unchanged from the third quarter, according to the Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers' “Commercial P/C Market Index Survey.”

The survey found that lower demand for insurance continued to put pressure on rates as carriers competed for new business.

Recommended For You

Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader

Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:

  • 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

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