Only 7 percent of the respondents somehow managed to keep property premiums the same as the year before, while 3 percent saw a modest rate hike of between zero and 10 percent. Ten percent saw rates rise between 10-and-20 percent; 14 percent saw hikes of 20-to-30 percent; while 28 percent saw premiums go up 30-to-50 percent.

Four percent saw rates rise 50-to-75 percent, while 10 percent saw them soar 75-to-100 percent. Twenty-four percent reported them skyrocketing by 100 percent or more. That means that 38 percent saw premiums rise by at least half. It is no surprise, then, that 72 percent said they were “unsatisfied” with their cost of coverage.

Price wasn't their only complaint. Eighty percent said they had a hard time getting the terms and conditions they wanted, while 58 percent cited their inability to obtain adequate limits.

The risk managers surveyed are extremely pessimistic about their upcoming renewal rates and terms. Indeed, 27 percent expect rate hikes of over 50 percent, with nearly one-fifth predicting an increase of at least 75 percent. However, the largest plurality–30 percent–expects increases in the more modest 10-to-20 percent range.

Only 31 percent expect to be able to get their desired capacity, while 41 percent believe they will have to settle for reduced capacity over what they have now. Thirty-five percent believe they will have to increase their self-insured retentions, while 35 percent predict they will see reduced coverage and/or limits.

The results were released here during the Risk and Insurance Management Society's annual conference. RM Access was launched by Fidelity Investments to “focus exclusively on the large-account market,” according to its promotional literature.

Reproduced from National Underwriter Property & Casualty/Risk & Benefits Management Edition, April 29, 2002. Copyright 2002 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.