CIAB Report: Commercial Insurance Premiums Continue to Rise

If you've noticed a disturbing upward trend in your company's insurance premiums, you're not alone. A recent report from The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers (CIAB) showed just how much impact the ongoing hard market continues to have on commercial insurance premiums.

According to the CIAB's Commercial Property/Casualty Market Index Q1 2021, premiums were up an average of 10 percent across all account sizes and all lines of business. Here are a few other key findings from that report:

• Q1 2021 was the fourth consecutive quarter where premiums increased at least 10 percent and the 14th consecutive quarter of increased premiums overall.
• While commercial insurance premiums increased across the board (including worker's compensation premiums), the most impacted lines of business were Umbrella and Cyber, with average increases of 19.7 percent and 18 percent, respectively.
• Premium increases were fueled in part by the COVID-19 pandemic, which "impacted pricing, availability of coverage, renewals, and underwriting trends."

While the rise of commercial insurance premiums pre-dated the outbreak of COVID-19, the pandemic highlighted the volatility of the market. Here's a look at the average premium increases by account size since the start of 2020.

For more information, check out the full report on the CIAB's website: The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers’ Commercial Property/Casualty Market Report Q1 2021.

Breaking Free from the Hard Market

While rising commercial insurance premiums are a significant and reoccurring challenge in the conventional market, they also represent an opportunity for brokers and insureds. In fact, the inherent difficulties of a hard market (market uncertainty, uncontrollable pricing, etc.) are precisely why Captive Resources' (CRI) founders created our member-owned group captive model — which is an excellent fit for best-in-class companies regardless of market conditions. Member-owned group captives allow insureds to take control of their premiums by becoming owners of insurance companies, rather than buyers of insurance policies.

For more insights into this topic, check out our article from earlier this year: Why Group Captives are Especially Attractive in a Hard Insurance Market.