U.S. commercial insurance rates rose 6.3% in Q1
A survey from WTW showed commercial insurance pricing trends remained steady to start 2024.
Commercial lines insurance prices increased 6.3% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2024, according to Willis Towers Watson’s (WTW) latest Commercial Lines Insurance Pricing Survey (CLIPS).
Data for the CLIPS is obtained directly from commercial lines carriers, with participants consisting of many of the top-10 commercial lines companies and top-25 U.S. insurance groups. The 43 participating insurers reportedly represent around 20% of the U.S. commercial insurance market, excluding state workers compensation. The survey compares prices charged during a quarter with prices charged in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
Growth in Q1 2024 remained on-trend with previous quarters, which have consistently seen around 6% price increases each quarter since the COVID pandemic.
In a release, WTW offered a closer look at coverage statistics that stood out in their survey. One of these was excess umbrella liability coverage, which has reportedly seen significant price increases over the last few years. This line of business experienced its smallest growth in Q4 2022, compared to other recent quarters, but from early 2023 to present, prices for excess umbrella liability have climbed back to double-digit quarterly increases.
Commercial property coverage has also seen a jump back to double-digit increases over the last several quarters after seeing growth slow to single-digits from Q1 2021 to Q4 2022.
The cyber market, on the other hand, has seen prices decrease over the last several quarters after seeing a significant increase from mid-2020 to Q3 2022. The directors and officers liability (D&O) market saw significant price decreases beginning in mid-2022, but that market has since stabilized.