NU Online News Service, May 7, 2:07 p.m. EDT

Commercial property and casualty rates were up 3 percent in April compared to the same month a year ago, and admitted carriers may be in the beginning stages of ceding risks back to the non-admitted market, according to MarketScout. 

Noting the declining appetite among standard carriers, MarketScout CEO  Richard Kerr says, “Recently, we have noticed admitted and non-admitted insurers are pricing similarly. Historically, there has been a considerable difference in the underwriting approaches among the various types of insurers. The recent similar pricing strategies could ultimately lead to more business for the non-admitted insurers as admitted insurers begin to restrict their risk appetite and simply decline to write tougher accounts.” 

Broken down by insurance line, the Dallas-based insurance exchange says workers' compensation and commercial-property coverages rose 4 percent–the highest increases for the month. No lines showed rate decreases, and fiduciary was the only line that came in flat. Three lines–business interruption, crime and surety–showed 1 percent increases while all other lines increased by either 2 percent or 3 percent.

By account size, small, medium and large accounts all increased by 3 percent while jumbo accounts were up 2 percent.

All industry classes were up by 3 percent.