Willis Group Holdings expects a majority of commercial P&C rate increases through the remainder of 2013. In the commercial casualty lines, the top end of expected increases edged up from 7.5 percent to 10 percent since last fall, according to the global risk advisor and insurance broker’s 2013 “Marketplace Realities” report. For commercial property insurance, price expectations for CAT-exposed programs shifted from flat renewals to slight increases. The report notes, however, that property programs impacted by Superstorm Sandy can expect a complicated renewal process including restructuring of the flood language in their policies. The only decrease is non-CAT risk programs, which Willis is expecting decreases ranging from -5 percent to -10 percent to rates remaining flat or falling by up to -5 percent.
Claim trends are generally more complex and volatile than the fairly predictable insurance marketplace, Eric Joost, chief executive of Willis North America Specialties, said in the report. “Joe Picone, our chief claim officer, sees rising costs but declining claim frequency in workers’ compensation,” Joost said. “Our property claim leader, Dave Passman, notes a growing use of lawyers and consultants in claim resolution, and at the same time increases in advance payments on claims. Likewise in the D&O space, our claim expert Ken Ross identifies forces leaning opposite ways: some claim trends are rising while overall claim frequency seems to be falling.”
