“Everyone is thinking [DIC pricing] is going to change,” she says. Right now, the flurry of activity is centered on severely underpriced accounts. “We are hearing some things [about] really distressed businesses increasing, but the whole Main Street has to increase on that market.”

Rivera also reports seeing “the inklings of a turn” in the workers' comp line—“and really recently. I'm talking about last two weeks,” she says during an April 8 interview.

“January and February were very competitive in the workers' comp arena still,” she says, suggesting this was not surprising. “That's what people do. Everybody knows they have a big January,” she adds, referring to the large number of policies up for renewal, “and January winds up being very competitive.

Right now, she's seeing a mixture of increased pricing discipline sprinkled with some remnants of irrational behavior. “People are still asking for crazy discounts [through] schedule rating,” she says. “We still have a long way to go, but it does seem like things are going to start happening.”

She continues: “Workers' comp usually is one of the first lines to change because you can't run from the results. The results are what they are—and eventually [insurers] say I'm not going to run 117 combined ratio anymore. I can't.”