P/C rates soften in 1st quarter

Risk & Insurance, June, 2005

Commercial property/ casualty premiums continued to soften during the first quarter of 2005, with the average rates for all sizes of accounts reaching their lowest levels since the commercial insurance market peaked in the fourth quarter of 2001, a new survey by the Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers shows.

The survey also shows that almost 80 percent of large accounts were down more than 10 percent during the first quarter of 2005. Premiums for eight of 10 commercial lines in the survey for all account sizes were either stable or down as much as 20 percent, according to the survey.