Carriers reported that U.S. commercial insurance prices grew just above 2 percent on average during the 2019 first quarter, according to Willis Towers Watson’s latest CLIPS survey.

Willis Towers Watson’s Commercial Lines Pricing Survey found that four standard lines produced “material” price increases: Commercial auto, commercial property, excess/umbrella liability, and directors and officers liability. Commercial auto stood out in particular by generating double-digit price hikes for the fourth consecutive quarter.

Price changes were positive and at a similar level across all account sizes, Willis Towers Watson said.

Jeffrey Carlson, director, Insurance Consulting and Technology for Willis Towers Watson, said in prepared remarks that price changes were consistent with recent carrier surveys except for directors and officers liability, where price increases reached the mid-single digits.

Carlson added that claim cost inflation seems to be moderating.

“While estimates of 2018 claim cost inflation are still elevated compared to the recent past, they have moderated somewhat from estimates provided in our last survey, as the data continue to mature,” Carlson said.

Global commercial insurance prices have been trending higher along with the U.S. Marsh, in its latest Global Insurance Market index, determined that average global commercial insurance prices grew by 3 percent in Q1. Marsh said the increases are the largest since it began the survey in 2012, though capacity appears to remain robust.

Marsh found that U.S. commercial insurance pricing grew by just 1.1 percent on average.

One global exception: casualty pricing, which Marsh found dipped 0.7 percent in Q1.

Source: Willis Towers Watson