Most Commercial Lines Continued To See Premium Rate Increases in April

All commercial insurance lines except workers compensation experienced year-over-year premium renewal rate increases in April, according to the IVANS Index, a regular premium renewal rate index compiled by the IVANS insurance exchange service.

During the month, workers compensation again experienced a year-over-year premium renewal rate decrease, IVANS reported.

Month over month, premium renewal rates for lines including commercial auto, businessowners policy (BOP), general liability, and umbrella experienced increases, IVANS said, while commercial property saw a downturn. The workers compensation premium renewal rate was unchanged from March's average premium renewal rate.

Premium renewal rate changes by line of business in April include the following.

• Commercial auto: The April average premium renewal rate was 4.65 percent, up from 3.91 percent in March.
• BOP: The BOP premium renewal rate increased to 4.64 percent in April from 4.54 percent a month earlier.
• General liability: The premium renewal rate was 4.00 percent, up from 3.61 percent the month prior.
• Commercial property: The commercial property premium renewal rate was 5.52 percent in April, down from 5.69 percent in March.
• Umbrella: The April premium renewal rate of 4.29 percent was up from 4.18 percent the previous month.
• Workers compensation: The April premium renewal rate decreased 1.64 percent, unchanged from a 1.64 percent decrease in March.

"This month's IVANS Index results continue to demonstrate a hardening market with nearly all major commercial lines of business increasing quarter over quarter after having dipped at the end of March," Kathy Hrach, vice president of product management, IVANS Insurance Services, said in a statement. "Year over year, BOP and commercial property continue to experience the greatest increase across all major commercial lines of business. We expect this trend to evolve as macroeconomic developments play out as a result of the pandemic."

Released on a monthly basis, the IVANS Index analyzes more than 120 million data transactions to measure premium renewal rate change year over year across the US market.