An insurance brokers' group said rates appear to be heading even lower with the release of a quarterly survey that indicates carriers are aggressively chasing markets and dropping prices to get business.
In the release of its latest survey results on commercial property-casualty premiums, Washington, D.C.-based The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers said the results point to dramatic premium drops in some parts of the United States.
Noting comments the CIAB received from brokers, the members said carriers are going to great lengths to grow market share, with increased competition and indicators that companies are loosening underwriting standards and pricing aggressively.
Of the 106 members who responded to the survey covering the first three months of this year, 77 percent said their small account rates were down between 1- and 30 percent, while 92 percent said medium-size accounts were down 1-to-30 percent, and 85 percent said premiums were down by the same amount.
The survey said that an analysis done by Lehman Brothers found rates declined an average of 11 percent in the quarter, compared with close to 10 percent in the fourth quarter of last year.
Premium rate declines started to moderate beginning with the third quarter of 2005 and continued that moderating cycle through the first quarter of 2006. Since then, the rate of decline has increased to where it stands today.
General liability had the largest decrease at 12 percent, followed by commercial liability and commercial auto at slightly above 10 percent, and workers' compensation at over 9 percent.
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