April Sees Varied Premium Renewal Trends Across Commercial Insurance Lines

Across most major commercial insurance lines, average premium renewal rates increased year over year in April, with the exception of workers compensation, which continued to trend downward, according to the Ivans Index, a regular premium renewal rate index compiled by the Ivans insurance exchange service. On a month-over-month basis, rate changes varied: general liability, commercial property, and umbrella saw modest increases, while commercial auto, businessowners policy (BOP), and workers compensation experienced declines.

Premium renewal rate changes by the line of business during April include the following.

• Commercial auto. The average premium renewal rate for commercial auto increased by 8.41 percent in April, down from an 8.78 percent increase in March.
• BOP. The BOP premium renewal rate increased by 7.98 percent in April, down from an 8.19 percent increase a month earlier.
• General liability. General liability saw a 4.33 percent premium renewal rate increase in April, up from a 3.71 percent increase during the prior month.
• Commercial property. The average premium renewal rate increase for commercial property was 7.70 percent in April, up slightly from 7.63 percent in March.
• Umbrella. Umbrella saw a 9.41 percent premium renewal rate increase in April, up from a 9.28 percent increase a month earlier.
• Workers compensation. The premium renewal rate for workers compensation decreased by 1.78 percent in April, down from a 1.54 percent decrease in March.

The Ivans Index is derived from the analysis of more than 120 million data transactions across over 38,000 agencies and 700 insurers and managing general agents.