Professional and management liability rates are expected toincrease in 2013 by up to 10 percent, says the majority of industryprofessionals in a recent survey.

Specialty insurer Torus today released the results of a surveyof 105 insurance professionals attending the Professional LiabilityUnderwriting Society conference in Chicago earlier this month.

Jeffrey Grange, senior vice president, head of ProfessionalLines at Torus says in a statement, "2012 was a year of widespreadconcern over pricing uncertainty. Today, the overwhelming consensusis an anticipation of rate increases in 2013.

"While pricing increases are a positive indicator for the marketas a whole, we must remember that this environment will presentmany challenges to producers as they manage expectations whileadvising their clients, whether working with small and medium sizedenterprises or large, complex publicly traded institutions," saysGrange.

The survey found that the majority of respondents, 87 percent,believe management liability and professional lines prices willincrease next year.

Of that number, 67 percent say increases will range up to 10percent. Breaking the figures down further, 35 percent say theyexpect increases of up to 5 percent, while 32 percent believeincreases will reach 6 to 10 percent.

A smaller percentage believe increases will go even higher, with19 percent saying increases will risk by more than 11 percent nextyear.

Professional liability and employment practices liability wereviewed as the main drivers of this line of business, 32 percent and31 percent of those surveyed, respectively. Running close behindwas directors and officers insurance with 22 percent saying thatline will drive rate increases.

The survey also highlighted concerns with increased regulationand its impact on business, says Torus.

Close to half, 49 percent of those surveyed, believe the DoddFrank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act will have thegreatest impact on professional liability lines. This is a majorjump over last year when 35 percent believed the legislation wouldhave major impact, says Torus.

"The industry continues to operate in an environment ofheightened legal liability and Dodd-Frank is one of a handful ofpieces of legislation that we must work to better address withclients and partners," says Sharon Raksnis, senior vice president,U.S. financial institutions at Torus.

Other pieces of legislation on the radar of insuranceprofessionals are the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,with 28 percent saying close attention needs to be paid to that,and 23 percent saying the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (JOBSAct) needs close attention.

Concern with PPACA covered increased demand for professionalliability cover for health service providers along with technologyerrors and omissions and privacy and network security coverage dueto electronic medical records.

Regarding the JOBS act, those surveyed say they are concernedabout reduced compliance and disclosure exposure impacting theD&O market, along with crowd funding and the ability ofcompanies to advertise their private placement offerings.