Catastrophe property risks are witnessing severe hardening while the rest of the lines experience continued price softening, a quarterly survey from a broker's group said.
The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers, based in Washington, D.C., released its quarterly survey of brokers, which found that, overall, the insurance market remains soft, but respondents said catastrophe-prone risks are witnessing increases in the triple digits.
The survey of 107 brokers found that 51 percent of small accounts witnessed decreases ranging from 1-to-20 percent.
Sixty-three percent of medium-size accounts (defined as accounts with commission and fees between $25,000 and $100,000) were in the same range of decrease, and 58 percent of large accounts were in that range.
Twenty-six percent of small accounts saw no change in rates, while 11 percent of both medium and large accounts saw no change.
Looking at individual lines, 43 percent of the brokers said commercial property premiums dropped 1-to-20 percent, and 21 percent said it rose 1-to-20 percent, with 10 percent saying there was no change.
Nine percent said rates rose between 20- and 50 percent, and 13 percent said rates were up 50-to-100 percent. An analysis of the data conducted by Lehman Brothers showed commercial property had an overall increase of 9 percent, while other lines remained in negative territory.
However, CIAB said premium rates for catastrophe-prone coastal property risks were up 300-to-500 percent–even as much as 600 percent in some cases. The impact, the association added, was being felt as far as five miles inland, according to the survey.
Regionally, the Southeast and Southwest appeared to be showing the bulk of the increases for commercial property.
In the Southeast, 38 percent of brokers said rates rose 50-to-100 percent, and in the Southwest 12 percent said they saw the same level of increase.
Twenty-one percent in the Southeast said rates rose 20-to-50 percent, and 12 percent said rates rose between 1- and 20 percent. No broker reported unchanged property rate premium, but 16 percent in the region said rates were down in the range of 1-to-20 percent.
In the Southwest, 20 percent said there was no change, while 24 percent said rates increased 1-to-20 percent, and 12 percent said rate increases ranged from 20-to-50 percent. Twenty-eight percent said rates were down 10-to-20 percent.
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