Commercial Auto is a highly troubled line of business for property & casualty insurers, suffering from historically poor performance, especially in trucking. This deters many insurers from writing certain business in the line entirely, eliminating a potential revenue stream, and plaguing those who are trying to create a profitable commercial auto portfolio.

Thomas F. Motamed, retiring chairman and CEO of CNA Financial, recently referred to the entire line as a "black eye" for the industry in the company's third-quarter earnings call, citing an increase in distracted driving that leads to more highway accidents and deaths. Similarly, Fitch reported earlier this year that Commercial Auto is a "chronically underperforming product segment" due to overly aggressive pricing and heightened claim severity.

Playing the competitive rate game with a broad stroke approach to the market won't help insurers achieve profitability in this line, but neither will avoiding writing business altogether. Insurers are keen to get their hands on driver and telematics data, but that is fraught with problems such as high driver turnover and the unwillingness of businesses and service providers to hand over telematics information.