Monthly Premium Increases Slow for Most Commercial Lines in February

Year over year, nearly all commercial insurance lines except workers compensation experienced increases in average premium renewal rate in February, according to the IVANS Index, a regular premium renewal rate index compiled by the IVANS insurance exchange service.

Month over month, premium renewal rates increased for commercial insurance lines, including business owners policy (BOP) and workers compensation, IVANS reported. Commercial auto, general liability, commercial property, and umbrella all experienced month-to-month decreases in their average premium renewal rates.

Premium renewal rate changes by line of business in February include the following.

• Commercial Auto—The average premium renewal rate increase was 4.06 percent, down from a 4.13 percent increase in January.
• BOP—The average BOP premium renewal rate increase rose to 5.41 percent in February, up from a 5.28 percent increase a month earlier.
• General Liability—The average premium renewal rate for general liability increased 4.11 percent in February, a decrease from a 4.23 percent increase the prior month.
• Commercial Property—The average commercial property premium renewal rate increase of 6.01 percent in February was down from 6.17 percent in January.
• Umbrella—The average premium renewal rate for umbrella increased 4.68 percent in February, a decrease from a 5.58 percent increase a month earlier.
• Workers Compensation—The average premium renewal rate for workers compensation decreased 0.95 percent in February, up from a 1.26 percent decrease in January.

"After seeing a rare dip in premium renewal rates last month for most of the major commercial lines, month-over-month trends have rebounded for most lines with the exception of commercial auto and general liability which continue to decrease," Kathy Hrach, vice president of product management at IVANS Insurance Services, said in a statement. "Year-over-year, workers compensation continues to be the only major commercial line of business below zero, continuing a trend that has been happening for years."

Released on a monthly basis, the IVANS Index analyzes more than 120 million data transactions to measure premium renewal rate change year over year across the US market.