WTW: US Commercial Insurance Price Increases in Q1 ‘Steady’ at 6.3%

Broker WTW said commercial lines insurance increased overall by an average of 6.3% during the first quarter.

Quarterly price increases have been about 6% since the global pandemic, WTW reported in its Commercial Lines Insurance Pricing Survey (CLIPS). Carriers during the pandemic (second-fourth quarters 2020) reported aggregate commercial price changes of around or above 10% before overall prices began to drop.

Despite the recent “predictable trend,” the survey revealed some differences by line of business. For instance, excess umbrella liability has seen “significant price increases” in the double-digits per quarter from early 2023 to the present. Commercial property and commercial auto insurance each continued to have double-digit price increases during the first three months of 2024, though lower than the previous quarter, according to the insurers taking part in the survey.

“As economic inflation begins to show signs of slowing down throughout the U.S. economy, its impact is contributing to the variations in commercial insurance rates for corporations,” said WTW.

Cyber insurance rate decreases slowed in the first quarter. This line of business experienced some significant rate increases a couple of years ago but then started to decrease in the first quarter 2023. Similarly, WTW said, directors and officers liability in Q1 2024 saw another quarter of price decrease, but less than the prior quarter.

Topics Trends USA Commercial Lines Business Insurance Pricing Trends Willis Towers Watson

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