NU Online News Service, April 19, 3:06 p.m. EDT

Soft market rates for the commercial property and casualty sector show little evidence they will change in the near future, according to the Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers.

The Washington, D.C.-based brokers association released its quarterly market survey of insurance brokers which showed average rate declines were virtually unchanged on a quarter-to-quarter basis.

The CIAB survey found rates averaged negative 5.3 percent for the first quarter of this year, just slightly better than the negative 5.6 percent experienced during the fourth quarter of 2009.

Average rate declines have fluctuated in the negative 5 percent range all through 2009 into 2010, except for the second quarter of 2009 when rates were at an average 4.9 percent, CIAB noted.

"We don't see much change from the last quarter," said Ken A. Crerar, president of CIAB, in a statement. "Carriers are still competing ferociously for new business and that's keeping rates soft. There was some wishful thinking on the carriers' part to increase rates on renewal, but that didn't stick if there was any competition for business. Until demand picks up, we don't see any significant uptick in commercial rates for the foreseeable future."

On a quarter-to-quarter basis, rates stood virtually unchanged at negative 3 percent for small accounts and unchanged at 7.4 percent for large accounts. Midsize accounts saw a slight change going from negative 6.3 percent in the fourth quarter to negative 5.7 percent in the first quarter of 2010.

The CIAB noted from comments submitted by member brokers surveyed that while some carriers tried to increase rates on renewal, most were happy to keep renewals flat. However, carriers were aggressively chasing new business.

The survey noted that the soft market "is taking a toll on the surplus market," as capacity remains plentiful and carriers look for new business "wherever they can find it."

The recession still has a hold on clients' purchasing of insurance, as 75 percent of respondents said they saw no increase in demand in the first quarter, the CIAB said.

Of the 14 lines of insurance surveyed, surety bonds had the highest increase, with 12 percent of respondents saying rates were up 1-to-20 percent. However, 40 percent said their line was unchanged.

Broker errors and omissions had the next highest increase, with 9 percent saying the line had increases between 1- and 10 percent. Thirty percent of respondents said there was no change in rates.

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Commercial Market Shows Little Change In Rates Insurance Brokers&#039; Report

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