General Insurance Article - US commercial insurance prices similar to last quarter

 Data for nearly all commercial lines continue to indicate significant price increases in the first quarter. Professional liability, which had been significantly accelerating over the previous nine quarters, experienced a lower increase than the prior quarter although still a double-digit rate increase. Other lines, with the exception of workers compensation, continued to show price increases, though similar to or slightly below those in Q4 2021.

 In contrast to nearly all other surveyed lines, workers compensation continued to show rate decreases, similar to the prior quarter. Cyber was first introduced into the survey in Q4 2021, and continued to show a significant rate increase, although the reported volume is much smaller than other lines. When comparing account sizes, reported price changes were lower than prior quarter for all size categories.

 Companies have revised their estimates for claim cost inflation in aggregate for 2021 to be above 3.0%, with increased estimates seen in property. This seems to be consistent with the recent changes in general inflation, particularly with the cost of materials and labor related to property damage repairs.

 “The price increases for most lines continued to be strong in the first quarter of 2022, though the magnitude of increase dropped compared with prior quarters” said Yi Jing, Director, Insurance Consulting and Technology, WTW.

 CLIPS is a retrospective look at historical changes in commercial property & casualty insurance (P&C) prices and claims cost inflation.

 A forward-looking analysis of commercial P&C trends, outlook, and rate predictions can be found in WTW’s Insurance Marketplace Realities series.