US Commercial Lines Survey Shows Aggregate Increase of 6.6% in Q4

U.S. commercial insurance prices increased 6.6% in the fourth quarter 2023, with “intriguing shifts” in some coverage areas, according to a survey from broker WTW.

According to the latest results from WTW’s Commercial Lines Insurance Pricing Survey (CLIPS), carriers in the last quarter 2023 reported another aggregate commercial price change that remained above 6%. Results on aggregate were near the rate increase of more than 6% in the second and third quarters.

“Amidst the ongoing general upward trend, our latest data from the fourth quarter of 2023 reveals intriguing shifts in commercial insurance rates,” said Yi Jing, director, Insurance Consulting and Technology, WTW. “Notable increases were observed across various coverage areas, with some at or approaching double-digit growth, while others experienced minor declines. These findings underscore the dynamic nature of the market and highlight the importance of strategic adaptation while staying agile enough to pivot as the market may require.”

Broker WTW said the quarterly survey compared insurance prices for policies underwritten during the fourth quarter 2023 with those charged for the same coverage in the same quarter in 2022.

Commercial property and excess umbrella continued to see double-digit price increases, but commercial auto had the most increase in Q4, rising nearly 4% from Q3 2023. The fourth quarter marked the 25th straight in which price increases were near or above double digits for commercial auto.

Prices for cyber coverage continued to show a slowdown in its price change with a similar price decrease to the prior quarter.

WTW said the aggregate commercial price changes spiked to around 10% for much of 2020 but fell to just below 5% in the fourth quarter 2022 before heading back up to above 6% since the second quarter 2023.

(Editor’s Note: A previous version of this article reported that the aggregate commercial price increase for the quarter was 6.7%. WTW has corrected the figure to 6.6%)