Commercial property and casualty insurance prices remained flat in the first quarter, according to a survey by Towers Watson & Co., the fifth straight quarter of stable rates after nearly five years of steady decreases.
Towers Watson, which has a Stamford office, attributed flat rates to a fragile global economy, excess capacity in virtually every line of commercial insurance and below-average catastrophic losses last year.
“Market conditions are holding down price increases, while insurers ”“ as they have for more than a year ”“ continue to exhibit pricing discipline, given their concerns regarding the direction the economy may take,” said Bruce Fell, leader of Towers Watson”™s risk consulting and reinsurance brokerage services, in a statement. “Looking at (directors”™ and officers”™ liability insurance), the price increases we had seen in the past year in response to the financial crisis have disappeared, and pricing seems to be reverting back to pre-crisis price levels.”
The survey compared prices charged on policies underwritten by nearly 40 insurance companies, representing about 20 percent of the commercial insurance market (excluding state workers”™ compensation funds).
In other news, the median Connecticut household had the 33rd least affordable auto insurance rates in the nation as measured against income, according to a study published in June.
New York ranked among the bottom four states on a car insurance affordability index published by Sacramento, Calif.-based InsWeb Inc., whose websites help consumers compare rates, while New Jersey ranked 17th.
Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont have the most affordable insurance in the nation, as calculated by dividing the median household car insurance rate in each state by its median household income. Bringing up the bottom are Louisiana, Oklahoma and Missouri.
“Comparing median car insurance rates by state gives us a good sense of where drivers are paying higher and lower premiums, but it doesn”™t necessarily tell us where states rank in terms of affordability,” said Brad Cooper, an InsWeb senior vice president, in a prepared statement. “To really get a sense of where car insurance is the most and least affordable, you have to consider how much of a typical family”™s income goes toward premiums, and that”™s what our affordability factor measures.”
