Commercial rate rises accelerate in fourth quarter

Average premium renewal rate rises accelerated across all major commercial lines in the fourth quarter, according to the IVANS Insurance Solutions’ premium renewal rate index. As in the previous quarter, only workers compensation saw rates decline.

Business owner policies (5.58%), general liability (4.41%), commercial property (5.95%) and umbrella lines (5.13%) all ended 2021 with their highest premium renewal rate change of the year. The average premium renewal rate change in 2021 was also higher for all lines of business compared to 2020, except for commercial auto (4.69%).

Workers compensation renewal rates fell 1.16% in the fourth quarter, although this was lower than the 1.40% fall seen in the third quarter.

The IVANS Index is produced monthly for the most placed commercial lines of business in the insurance industry and analyses more than 120 million data transactions from the US market.