U.S. commercial insurance prices showed minimal gains during thefirst quarter of 2017, according to the latest "Commercial Lines Insurance Pricing Survey"(CLIPS) from Willis Towers Watson.

Analysts at the global advisory, broking and financial solutionscompany compared first-quarter (Q1) policy pricing this year to thesame period last year. They found that year-over-year commercialpolicy prices changed less than 1% for the sixth consecutivequarter.

Exercised considerable discipline

“The commercial P&C insurance market has exercised considerablediscipline as a whole over the past couple of years,” said SerhatGuven, Americas Property & Casualty sales practice leader,Willis Towers Watson. “Insurers have held theline on trading profitability for volume, while still responding asneeded to emerging trends.”

CLIPS data are based on both new and renewal business, andrepresent a cross section of U.S. property & casualtyinsurers.

Price changes in the first quarter for most lines ofbusiness were fairly consistent. The following four commercialinsurance lines indicated modest price decreases:

— Workers compensation.

— Commercial property.

— Directors and officers.

— Surety.

The outlier in the results continues to be commercial auto,which has seen significant price increases.

Related: Auto insurance rose over 7 percent in January'sconsumer price index

For most other lines, price changes fell in the low singledigits.

The graphic below from Willis Towers Watson illustratesfindings in the firm’s "Commercial Lines Insurance Pricing Survey,"or CLIPS.