Wednesday July 22, 2009

The Council conducts the survey on a quarterly basis through interviews with approximately 150 commercial agents and brokers.  The survey indicated that there were no significant changes in pricing between the first quarter and the second quarter of 2009.  While the expectation had been that there would be some hardening of rates, actual results do not support that thesis. 

The survey did differentiate between new business and renewal business, with the most agrressive pricing occuring on new business.  This seems to support the argument made by Dr. Robert Hartwig of the Insurance Information Institute that premium volume is contracting.  Therefore carriers are willing to compete agressively for new business as they try to bolster top line growth.

On average, large accounts declined 6.7% compared against a first quarter decline of 6.4%.  Midsized accounts dropped 5.7% similar to the decline in the first quarter while small accounts saw a 2.5% decline slightly less than the 3.3% reported in the 1Q.

The full results of the survey can be found at  http://www.ciab.com

 

» Posted by John M. Foehl, Jr. at 12:53 PM