"We're seeing the trickle-down effect of rate increases," said Ken A. Crerar, president of CIAB in a statement.

"Over the last three months," he said, "we have moved beyond initial difficulty with high-profile or high-exposure properties to an environment where the broader marketplace is affected.

"Though our surveys since January 2000 have shown that harder market trends began well before Sept. 11, they have really picked up steam since then. Leaders from throughout the industry have warned Congress that action is needed and needed now."

Of the 157 agents and brokers across the country surveyed, 76 percent said premium rates rose between 10 to 50 percent since the Jan. 1 renewals. Breaking the survey down further, 55 percent said they saw increases of between 10 to 30 percent. Six percent of large firms (commission revenue of more than $100,000) said they saw rates go up between 50 to 100 percent.

Across all lines of business, there were reported increases. More than 90 percent of those surveyed reported seeing increases that ranged to as high or more than 100 percent.

Of the seven property-casualty lines surveyed, the highest was general liability with 96 percent of those surveyed saying they saw increases. Sixty-two percent reported increases in the 10 to 30 percent range, followed by 17 percent in the 30 to 50 percent range, and 13 percent in the 1 to 10 percent range.

Only 59 percent of respondents said they saw increases in surety bonds, the lowest number of increases of the seven lines. However, 31 percent of those surveyed said they did not know or did not handle the line. Forty-eight percent of those who do handle surety bonds said they saw increases ranging from one to 30 percent.

Group medical was also surveyed, with the majority of respondents saying they saw increases in the range of 10 to 30 percent.

CIAB said comments from those surveyed revealed that capacity is becoming an increasingly big problem for some programs such as construction, hospitals, nursing homes, commercial auto, marine, aviation, trucking and cargo.

They also report increasing number of exclusions or sharp restrictions by insurers related to terrorism, mold, asbestos, windstorms, earthquakes and other specific risks.

The current reported rate hikes come on top of similar rate hikes reported during the Jan. 1 renewal period, CIAB said.