NU Online News Service, Jan. 25, 3:28 p.m. EST
Despite record losses for the insurance industry in 2011, low interest rates and continued economic volatility affecting insurers' earnings, there is no indication that the commercial-insurance marketplace is making a hard-market turn, says the chief executive of Marsh.
Speaking today during Marsh's webinar series, The New Reality of Risk, Dave Bidmead, chief executive officer, U.S. of Marsh said clients have benefited from the ample capacity of the insurance marketplace for years, primarily because of an overall benign period of catastrophe losses. However, in 2011, insurers dealt with the impact of approximately $105 billion in insured losses, a historic figure of loss for the industry.
On top of that, earnings from interest on investments continued to be minimal as the economic climate remained uncertain, noted Bidmead.
“All in all, it sounds like a set of circumstances that could have well tilted the industry into hard-market conditions,” Bidmead said. “As of today, that really hasn't happened.”
He continued, “Signs of the widespread hard market are not at hand. Some of our clients are feeling that certain insurance-market products and segments are showing signs of active transition. But there is a line to be walked between saying the market is hard, or hardening, and acknowledging that there is some transition from the soft market or the benign conditions of the last years.”
The webinar coincides with the release of Marsh's Navigating the Risk and Insurance Landscape: U.S. Insurance Market Report 2012. The release is just one of several market reports that cover the Canadian, Multinational, Latin America andCaribbean, and EMEA insurance marketplaces.
Bidmead notes that the segments hit hardest by increases and more attention is paid to terms and conditions include property and casualty management liability, environmental and energy.
Ultimately, a risk's loss history and product design is the final arbiter of price direction, he says.
For this year, he says while it is difficult to predict the future, those risks that suffered through last year's catastrophes or were subject to losses in 2011 will more than likely see rate increases this year. Carriers are also actively saying they want to hold the line on rates and have shown willingness to walk away from accounts if they do not get the rate they feel is adequate.
To manage through this changing marketplace, he says insureds need to begin the renewal process early and “supply up-to-date, comprehensive data.” An important practice Bidmead says many insureds forget is to maintain a face-to-face relationship with their carrier and keep open lines of communication.
It is also beneficial for the insured to highlight the risk-management accomplishments of the past year and understand the carrier's risk appetite. Insureds should also review alternate-risk structures such as insuring in the excess-lines market or forming a captive.
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