For the second consecutive month, overall property and casualty rates came in at minus-2 percent, indicating rates are continuing to firm, says MarketScout.

With pricing showing signs of stabilizing, and solid capital adequacy and balance-sheet strength, Moodys Investors Service has revised its outlook on U.S. commercial insurance to stable from negative.

Recent catastrophe losses have provided momentum for reinsurance rates to harden, and demand for reinsurance is expected to pick up, leading Moodys Investors Service to revise the sectors outlook to stable from negative.

Tropical Storm Lee spent the Labor Day weekend making residents in the South miserable with unrelenting rains before heading today into an already saturated Northeast region trying to recover from Hurricane Irene.